CENTURY 

OF 

INDIANA 



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A CENTURY OF INDIANA 



BY 



EDWARD E. MOORE 




AMERICAN ROOK COMPANY 
NEW YORK . • . CINCINNATI . • . CHICAGO 



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Copyright, 1910 

BV 

EDWARD E. MOORE 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London 
Moore's Indiana 



©CI.A'^73^28 



PREFACE 



The production of this work is the result of a behef 
that there is a field for a new history of Indiana, briefer in 
general narrative, though fuller in political and constitutional 
history, than other standard works heretofore published. 
The word '' political" is of course used in its governmental 
and not its partisan sense, though every phase of the 
state's history is treated according to its relative impor- 
tance, the activities of the leading political parties not 
excepted. 

Then there are reasons why the present seems a peculiarly 
fitting time to bring out such a work. With the approach 
of the centennial year of statehood, and the rounding out 
of a cycle of Indiana history, there comes to the thoughtful 
mind not only a renewed interest in the fascinating story 
of the origin, antecedents and growth of our splendid com- 
monwealth, but a striking realization of the fact that a new 
era, not only of material progress, but of social and civic 
development, involving many changes from former ideals, 
has dawned. The formative period in the state's history 
is closed, and the new problems of government, and of 
dealing with the varied interests and needs of the people, are 
widely different from those of the earlier times. 

In the style of presentation of this history, neither partisan 
bias nor a purpose to shield the recreant, whether a political 
party or other organization or individuals, has been con- 

6 



6 PREFACE 

sciously indulged, and endeavor has been made to avoid 
the spirit of mere boastfulness so apt to insinuate itself on 
account of state pride or local patriotism. No good pur- 
pose can be served by an effort to color the facts of history, 
and surely there could be no greater crime in literature than 
a deliberate attempt to falsify them. The story of the rise 
of the state from the wilderness scarce a hundred years ago, 
of the development of its rich resources of mines and soil, 
and the evolution of its government; the stirring chapters 
of its territorial history, and the various events of war and 
peace, of danger, of sacrifice, and of achievement, through 
all the wonderful years that have elapsed since La Salle first 
skirted our southern shore while on his voyage down the 
Ohio in 1669, are such that no fanciful embellishments are 
needed to attract and hold the attention. 

In this great panorama of history there pass in review (1) 
the Mound Builders, who disappeared so many hundreds 
of years ago that there would now remain not even a 
memory of the race, were it not for the great mounds and 
fortifications of earth which mark the scenes of their ancient 
industry; (2) the disdainful Indian, who chose death and 
race extinction rather than give up the wild life of the forest 
he loved so well; (3) the eager French explorers, traders, 
missionaries and adventurers, upon whose restless wander- 
ings and feeble attempts to found colonies their country 
sought to establish a vast empire in central North America, 
extending from the Gulf coast to the regions beyond the 
northern Lakes; (4) the ever conquering Anglo-Saxon who 
destroyed this dream of empire with a stroke of the sword, 
and (5) the frank and rugged American who still abides, 
and for whom Providence seems to have reserved the price- 
less heritage of the continent. 



PREFACE i 

Not quite two hundred years have elapsed since the first 
outpost of European civiHzation was estabhshed on the soil 
of what is now Indiana, and for a half-century following the 
preliminaries of occupation by the French the white popula- 
tion of the territory did not exceed four hundred souls. 
Dating the first impetus to general settlement from the 
adoption of the Ordinance of 1787, it has required the com- 
munity comprising the state of Indiana a little less than a 
century and a quarter to build itself up, conquer the wilder-, 
ness, form and perfect a government, and advance to the 
present stage of civilization and prosperity enjoyed by the 
people. And that Indiana, still younger in years than some 
of her oldest pioneer citizens, should now stand admittedly 
in the vanguard of the sisterhood of states in education, 
and moral, material and civic progress, is a distinction in 
which all worthy citizens may justly pride themselves. I 
have sought, however, to avoid the temptation to exaggerate 
glorious facts, or suppress disagreeable truths, merely to flatter 
such a pride. The lessons of history are of two kinds, and 
each should have its voice. The purpose to atone for an error 
or correct a wrong, or the contemplation of an example to be 
avoided, may prove a motive to well-doing only less valuable 
than the desire to emulate that w^hich is commendable and 
honorable. 

Enough of the broader aspects of our national history are 
set forth, in their proper connections, to make clear the 
i-elated and dependent events in the state's history. 

Numerous references to authorities, and sources of in- 
formation are given, both in the text and in accompanying 
footnotes. These will furnish a helpful guide to the stu- 
dent who may desire to pursue a more exhaustive study of 
the subject than is here provided. 



8 PREFACE 

And to what extent I have succeeded, if at all, in my 
effort to make this story of Indiana interesting and read- 
able, as well as instructive, must now be left to the judg- 
ment of an enlightened and discriminating public. 

EDWARD E. MOORE. 

CONNERSVILLE, INDIANA. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

PAGH 

The Geography of Indiana 11 

CHAPTER II 
Aboriginal Inhabitants 20 

CHAPTER III 
Early Explorations 27 

CHAPTER IV 
Early Settlements 33 

CHAPTER V 
Saxon versus Gaul 45 

CHAPTER VI 
The War for Independence • 54 

CHAPTER VII 
Early Jurisdictions and Territorial Government 69 

CHAPTER VIII 
The Slavery Question 85 

CHAPTER IX 
Indian Wars 90 

CHAPTER X 

The Early Settler 115 



« 



10 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XI PAGE 

Progress under Statehood 119 

CHAPTER Xn 
Indiana's Part in the Civil War 146 

CHAPTER XIII 

Era of Modern I )evelopment 182 

CHAPTER XIV 
A Century's Progress .... 222 

CHAPTER XV 
Indiana Civics 229 

CHAPTER XVI 
Educational Development 249 

APPENDIX 

Socialistic Experiments at New Harmony 265 

Geologic Indiana 289 

Miscellaneous Facts of Interest 297 

Constitution of 1851 as Amended 309 

Index 335 



A CENTURY OF INDIANA 



CHAPTER I 
THE GEOGRAPHY OF INDIANA 

Location, Boundaries, and Political Divisions. Indiana is 
included in the north central group of states, and lies be- 
tween 37° 41' and 41° 46' north latitude, and between 84° 44' 
and 86° 6' west longitude. It is bounded on the north by 
the parallel which lies ten miles north of the southern 
extremity of Lake Michigan, on the east by the meridian 
of the mouth of the Great Miami River, on the south by 
the Ohio River, and on the west by the Wabash River and 
the meridian of Vincennes. The bordering states are Michi- 
gan on the north, Ohio and Kentucky on the east, Kentucky 
on the south, and Illinois on the west. Lake Michigan 
forms about a third of the northern boundary. 

The state has an extreme lengih from north to south of 
about 250 miles, and an extreme breadth from east to west 
of 145 miles. Territorially it ranks thirty-fifth among the 
states of the Union, its area being but 36,350 square miles. 
Its political divisions consist of 92 counties, and these are 
subdivided into 1016 townships. Indianapolis, situated near 
the center of the state, is the capital. 

Topography and Soils. The unglaciated portion of the 
state, covering about one fourth of its area, and lying in the 
form of a triangle with its apex in Morgan County and its 
base on the Ohio River, possesses a varied and an uneven 

11 



12 THE aKOaUAl^UY OF INDIANA 

surface, marked in places by deep narrow valleys and 
rapid running streams. A small area in the southeast, 
though showing glacial drift, partakes of the same general 
character. None of the hills rise to an altitude approaching 
the dignity of mountains. The soil is alluvial and fertile in 
the valleys, the valley of the White Water especially being 
notable for the productiveness of its farms. And even on 
the higher and more uneven land judicious cultivation sel- 
dom fails to bring fair rewards. The staple crops of corn, 
wheat, oats, and potatoes are raised, but fruit culture is fast 
becoming a leading industry, being best adapted to the 
region. In the northwest, around the head of Lake Michi- 
gan, there are numerous sand hills and dunes, due partly 
to a former extension of the lake, and partly to wind action. 
In the basin of the Kankakee, also in the northwest, but south 
of the sand hills, there is a vast region of lakes and marshes 
and wet prairies. The drainage of this lake and marsh 
region is retarded by the flat, level character of the country 
and the presence of a complex system of morainic hills and 
ridges. In the northeast there is a region of high moraines, 
one great ridge of drift being 200 to 500 feet deep and 25 
miles wide, and extending from Steuben County to Cass, a 
distance of 100 miles. In fact, over nearly all of the northern 
three fourths of the state these moraines, or raised ridges 
of bowlders and various kinds of drift, are to be seen lying 
'' like dead waves upon the surface of the ocean." Aside 
from the broken and uneven ground in the southern part of 
the state comprising the '' Ohio Slope," the sand dunes in 
the northwest, the morainic hills in the northeast, and the 
lake and marsh regions throughout a large portion of the 
northern third, especially in the basin of the Kankakee, 
the rest of the state is a vast and undulating plain of glacial 



THE GEOGRAPHY OF IXDIAXA 1-3 

drift and accumulations. It possesses a deep mellow soil, 
unexcelled anj-TN'here on the continent for fertility and pro- 
ductiveness. The principal crops grown are corn, wheat, 
oats, potatoes, and hay. 

Geological Formations and Land Elevations. The rocks 
underlying the state are sedimentary, and have never been 
violently disturbed b\^ earthquake or volcanic action. Their 
position, however, shows that at some comparativeh^ recent 
date in geologic history they were " gently hfted into a very 
flat arch, the crest of which extends from Union County to 
Lake County. From the crest of the arch the strata dip 
gently to the northeast and southwest, the slope in the latter 
direction being about 20 feet to the mile." ^ 

The average land elevation in Indiana is 700 feet above 
tide. The highest point in the state is 1285 feet, and occurs 
in southern Randolph County. The lowest, which is in the 
extreme southwest, is 313 feet above tide. Only 2850 square 
miles have an altitude of 1000 feet or over, and this area is 
comprised within the counties of Wayne, Union, Randolph, 
Delaware, Henr\', Rush, Decatur, Franklin, Ripley, Brown, 
Steuben, DeKalb, Noble, and Lagrange. About 4700 square 
miles have an elevation of less than 500 feet.- 

Drainage System : Rivers and Lakes. The Wabash River, 
which with its tributaries furnishes the drainage for more 
than two thirds of the state, rises in ]\Iercer County, Ohio, 
only a few miles from the Indiana-Ohio state line, enters 
Indiana on the boundary between Adams and Jay counties, 
flows northwestward through Adams, Wells, Huntington, 
and Wabash counties, then turns nearly due west through 
Miami and into Cass, whence it turns to the southwestward, 

1 C. R. Dryer. 

2 All figures as to land elevations here given are according to C. R. Drver. 



THE GEOGRAPHY OF INDIANA 15 

and finally directs its course almost due south to its junction 
with the Ohio. The Wabash has a fall of only about eight- 
een inches to the mile throughout its long course of over 
400 miles within the state. Its principal tributaries are the 
White River, the Mississinewa, and the Salamonie, joining 
from the east and south, and the Little Wabash, the Eel, and 
the Tippecanoe from the north or northeast. The Vermilion 




White Water River, near Connersville 

and the Embarrass rivers are tributaries from the north and 
west, the latter being wholly, and the former partly, in the 
state of Illinois. The White River constitutes a considerable 
system within itself, being formed by the East Fork and the 
West Fork, which, with their own tributaries, drain a large 
portion of the southern and central regions of the state. 
The White Water River, rising in Randolph County, flows 
south and southeast through Wayne, Fayette, Franklin, and 
Dearborn counties, and forms a junction with the Great 



16 THE GEOGRAPHY OF INDIANA 

Miami near Harrison, Ohio. This stream has an average fall 
of almost seven feet to the mile, and is one of the most 
picturesque and beautiful in the state. There is a small area 
which drains into Lake Erie through the Maumee River 
system. The Maumee is formed at Fort Wayne by the junc- 
tion of the St. Mary's River, flowing to the northwest from 
its source in Ohio, and the St. Joseph, which originates in 
Michigan and flows to the southwest through the corner of 
Ohio and thence into Indiana. After thus uniting their 
waters and forming the Maumee, these two rivers double 
back upon their courses and flow to the east and north, 
emptying into the lake. The St. Mary's and the St. Joseph 
are striking examples of moraine-guided streams. 

Then there is a drainage into Lake Michigan through the 
St. Joseph of the Lake, which has its origin in Michigan, 
makes a long graceful sweep through portions of Elkhart 
and St. Joseph counties, Indiana, and flows back north and 
westward to the lake. Finally, the Kankakee, which has 
its source in St. Joseph County, and furnishes drainage for a 
limited area in the northwest, carries its sluggish waters to 
the Illinois, and thence to the Mississippi. A number of 
small streams in the southern part of the state drain directly 
into the Ohio. The general slope of the state is to the south- 
west, as indicated by the course of the Wabash, and by the 
vastly greater amount of drainage in that direction. 

Scattered over the northern third of the state there are a 
thousand shimmering lakes, many of them covering areas of 
several square miles. They lend an aspect of great beauty 
to the region, and during the summer months, attract 
multitudes of health and pleasure seekers to their shores. 

Climate and Occupations. The average temperature of 
the state ranges from about 25 degrees Fahrenheit in the 



THE GEOGRAPHY OF INDIANA 17 

north to 33 in the south in January, and from 72 degrees 
in the north to 77 in the south in July. The extremes range 
from about 103 degrees above zero to 22 below. The record 
high temperature for the central portion of the state is 106 
degrees, an extreme reached July 22, 1901, while the record 
low temperature of 25 degrees below zero occurred January 5, 
1884. There is an abundant rainfall over all sections, and 
considerable snow precipitation in the north. 

Agriculture is the principal occupation of the people, 
although manufacturing and coal mining are highly impor- 
tant industries. Indiana ranks about sixth as an agricultural 
state, notwithstanding the disparity of area in favor of her 
rival commonwealths. She occupies the tenth place as a 
manufacturing state, and sixth as a coal-producing state. 

Before the Woodman Came. Originally Indiana was 
heavily timbered, especially in the south, and along the 
Wabash and White Water river valleys, with dense forests of 
oak, hickory, ash, maple, beech, poplar, sycamore, cotton- 
wood, elm, and other deciduous trees. The Catalpa, 
now being widely cultivated because of its rapid growth, 
and the durability, adaptability, and workable qualities 
of its wood, is a native of the Wabash valley. Only a 
few small areas were covered by evergreen trees. In the 
central and eastern and southeastern portions of the 
state the Indians had no settlements worth the mention, 
largely because of the denseness in those regions of the 
forests of great trees. When these trees were removed the 
land occupied by them proved to be almost limitless in its 
powers of production. 

Settlement and Population. The settlement of the state 
by white men first began in the southwest and south, and 
gradually extended toward the north. The first comers. 



18 THE (iEOaRAPHY OF INDIANA 

after the handful of French about Vincennes and Ouiatenon, 
were principally from the southern and central eastern 
states. Later there was an influx of immigrants from New 
York and the New England states, and these contributed 
their numbers mainly toward building up the population 
of the northern counties. The total population of Indiana 
in 1800 was 5641. In 1900, just a century later, it was 
2,516,462. It is thought that the census enumeration of 
1910, now being compiled, will show a present population of 
2,850,000, and that there will easily be more than 3,000,000 
Indianians to participate in the celebration of the centennial 
anniversary of statehood in 1916. 



CHAPTER II 

ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS 

THE MOUND BUILDERS 

Relics of a Prehistoric Civilization; a Vanished Race. The 

Mound Builders were a prehistoric race of people who 
occupied a large portion of North America many hun- 
dreds, perhaps thousands, of years before the advent of 
European civilization. Their principal abode appears to 
have been in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys, if 
we may judge by the greater prevalence there of the 
peculiar mounds of earth and military fortifications con- 
structed by them. There has been much interesting spec- 
ulation as to who they were, where they came from, how 
long they occupied the country, and what became of them, 
but authentic history can vouchsafe no certain answer. 
These unsolved though fascinating mysteries have furnished 
inspiration to many imaginative writers whose works should 
have value in the realms of pure speculation only. The form 
of romancing indulged by them has clothed the aboriginal 
race of Mound Builders, in the minds of many credulous 
people, with certain heroic attributes and a nobility of 
character which it is very doubtful if they ever possessed. 
The notion that they were of gigantic stature is a myth 
kept alive, no doubt, by the reports given circulation from 
time to time of the finding of buried skeletons of abnormal 
size. The progress of the Mound Builders toward civiliza- 
tion also has been much overestimated. But in spite of all 
these things so much of their history as we do know is full 

20 



ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS 21 

of ethnologic and human interest. The real truth of the 
matter is, that the Mound Builders were a savage or at 
best a semicivilized people, who left no history, and no trace 
of a written or printed language. Neither by symbol, 
hieroglyphic, or any example of sign or picture writing yet 
discovered, can it be shown that they had any method 
of conveying written or recorded intelligence. All that is 
known of them must be gleaned from a few relics of flint, 
stone and metal implements, crude though sometimes 
highly ornamented pottery, simple domestic utensils, and 
their own decaying bones. Aside from these, the only 
enduring monuments to their existence are the curious earth 
mounds, and a number of highly interesting military forti- 
fications built by them. 

At the time of the first explorations of this country by 
white men, some three centuries ago, trees, estimated to be 
eight hundred to a thousand years old, were growing upon 
these abandoned mounds and earthworks. The age of these 
trees might furnish a fairly plausible clew to the time of 
disappearance of the Mound Builders, but how long they 
had occupied the country, where they came from, or what 
caused their disappearance, are among the deeper mysteries 
of the voiceless past.^ 

1 Evidence has accumulated during recent years in support of the beUef 
that this country was inhabited by a primitive race of men before the Glacial 
epoch, which terminated, according to the most conservative scientific 
estimates, ten thousand to thirty thousand years ago. And as the period 
of formation and duration of the enormous ice packs which invaded and 
devastated the country is estimated at not less than fifteen thousand to 
twenty-five thousand years, man's great antiquity, if he really dwelt here 
in preglacial times, is indicated. The calculation would place the period of 
his latest preglacial occupancy at twenty-five thousand to fifty-five thousand 
years ago. Some of the important items supporting this belief have been 
gleaned in Indiana. Mr. H. T. Cresson, of Philadelphia, iri the year 1886, 
found at Medora, in Jackson County, Indiana, deeply imbedded in a glacial 
Moore, Ind.— 2 



22 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS 

It is probable that the Mound Builders as a race were 
akin to the Indians. They may have been a branch or off- 
shoot of the Toltecs, or their successors the Aztecs, of ancient 
Mexico and Central America, though inferior to them in 
advancement toward civilization. 

Traditional Fate of the Mound Builders; a Numerous 
Population Indicated. The Iroquois Indians handed down 
a curious tradition which is as likely to be the true explana- 
tion of the fate of the Mound Builders as any other. It was 
to the effect that when the Lenni Lenapi, common ancestors 
of the Iroquois and other tribes, advanced from the North- 
west to the Mississippi, they found on the eastern side of that 
stream a great nation of people, more civilized than the 
Indians, living in towns and cultivating the soil. Having 
given the Lenni Lenapi permission to pass through to seek 
an eastward settlement, this people, inferentially the Mound 
Builders, treacherously attacked them while they were 
crossing the river. This gave rise to a long and bloody 
warfare, which eventually resulted in the subjugation and 
extermination of the offending strangers and the occupation 
of their country by the conquering Red Men. 

That the Mound Builders attained to a numerous popula- 
tion is evident from the magnitude of the public works in 
the nature of mounds and military fortifications which they 
constructed. And only by the practice of agriculture could 
so large a population have been maintained, although hunt- 
ing and fishing were also extensively followed. The imple- 
ments left by them show that their agricultural operations 
were carried on by means of shells, or by hand tools of stone 

drift, a well-wrought flint implemont of human manufacture. Similar 
evidences of preglacial habitation have been found in New Jersey, Ohio, 
and elsewhere. 



ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS 23 

or wood, and in building their mounds and military defenses 
the earth must have been carried in baskets, doubtless poised 
on the heads of the workers. They had neither machinery 
of any kind nor domestic animals. Under such circum- 
stances it is evident that the population constructing the 
vast works left by this primitive people must have been 
subject to conditions of practical slavery. 

Mounds and Military Defenses. The Mound Builders 
may have been valiant in war. That they had enemies to 
whom the}' doubtless succumbed eventually is proved by 
the fortifications and defenses heretofore referred to. In 
the construction of these works some knowledge of engineer- 
ing is evidenced by examples of perfect circles, angles, and 
squares; and their defenses seem to have been built with 
reference to definite plans. A chain of fortifications can be 
traced " reaching from the southern part of New York 
diagonally across the country to the Wabash River, and 
another chain commencing at a point on the Ohio River, 
in Clark County, Indiana, running northward into Madison 
County, thence eastward to central Ohio, and thence south- 
ward through Kentucky to Tennessee." ^ 

Fort Ancient, one of the most noted of these ancient 
fortifications, situated on the Little Miami River in Ohio, 
inclosed one hundred acres of ground, and would have held 
a garrison of sixty thousand men, with their families and 
provisions. The surrounding embankments were five to 
twenty-five feet in height. 

There is every evidence that these strange people made a 
Titanic struggle for their continued existence and that their 
enemies paid dearly for their victory over them. 

Interesting examples of ancient military fortifications in 

^ Smith's Histonj of Ivdiana. 



24 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS 

Indiana are to be found in Clark, Jefferson, Madison, Sulli- 
van, and Randolph counties. " Fort Azatlan " in Sullivan, 
near the town of Merom, and a remarkable stone fort at 
the mouth of Fourteen Mile Creek, in Clark County, are 
especially worthy of mention; 

The mounds of earth erected by the Mound Builders, 
doubtless at the expense of years of patient toil, have been 
variously classified by different authors as burial mounds, 
temple mounds, memorial pillars, and mounds of habitation. 
That many of them were used as burial mounds or places 
of sepulture, there can be no question, and it is very 
probable that some, especially the larger ones, served as 
temples. While they may have been used as watch-towers 
or lookouts in time of war, it is very doubtful if any of 
the mounds were used for purposes of habitation. Exca- 
vations seldom fail to bring to view human bones and other 
relics such as have been mentioned. Usually the bones 
represent one or a few persons, though sometimes many. 
W. H. Smith, in his history, relates that from one mound 
which was removed in the town of Spencer, Owen County, 
Indiana, there were taken more than twenty wagonloads 
of human bones, representing probably five thousand bodies. 

These mounds or tumuli, are numerous in Indiana, being 
found in nearly all sections of the state, but they are most 
abundant in the south. They are common objects marking 
the landscape in Knox, Sullivan, Owen, Clark, and many 
other counties. Pyramid mound in Knox County, south 
of Vincennes, is probably the highest in the state. It was 
reported by Professor Collett to be forty-seven feet high, 
three hundred feet long, and one hundred fifty feet wide. 
On its top there is a level area fifteen by fifty feet. This 
mound is a pygmy, however, when compared with examples 



ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS 25 

found elsewhere. The Cahokia truncated mound in lUinois 
measures seven hundred by five hundred feet at the 
base and is ninety feet high. The mounds vary in shape 
as well as in size. There are square, circular, conical, trun- 
cated, and terraced mounds, and mounds built in imitation 
of various kinds of animals, including man. The best 
examples of this latter class are to be found in Wisconsin, 
though there is a remarkable mound in Adams County, 
Ohio, constructed in imitation of an enormous serpent. It 
is twelve hundred feet in length. 

THE INDIANS 

Indians Make Little Progress toward Civilization ; Doubt- 
less Conquerors of Mound Builders ; Their Probable Origin. 
Whether the Indians were the immediate successors of the 
Mound Builders in their occupancy of the territory now 
comprised within the United States, or whether a period of 
time elapsed between the going of the one race and the 
coming of the other, none can with certainty tell. It is more 
than probable that the succession was not only immediate, 
but that the Mound Builders were conquered and destroyed 
by the Indians, who then possessed themselves of their lands. 
The result could hardly have been based upon the outcome 
of a single battle, but may have been the culmination of a 
warfare of years, or hostilities of decades. There is, in 
fact, no way to prove that the Indians in their origin are less 
ancient than the Mound Builders. 

It is therefore just as difficult to account for the presence 
of the Indians on the American continent as to account for 
the existence of the Mound Builders. They were here 
when European explorers first sailed across the seas; and 
beyond the stretch of the memory of those then living, and 



26 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS • 

a few untrustworthy traditions, nothing is known of their 
history previous to that time. They bear a shght resem- 
blance to the people living in some portions of Japan, and 
in remote ages of the past may have emigrated from Japan 
or Eastern Asia by crossing Bering Strait to Alaska. Or 
they may have come by way of the Aleutian chain of islands 
which in earlier geologic times doubtless constituted a much 
more extended area of land connecting, or partially connect- 
ing, the two continents. 

The Indians, prior to the time of the intrusion of the 
White Man's civilization, had no written language and 
preserved no history or records. Beyond a moderately well- 
developed spoken language, and a crude system of picture 
and sign writing for use in war and the chase, they had 
made but little progress toward civilization. Originally 
most of the tribes practiced cannibalism, not only feasting 
upon the flesh of their enemies killed or captured in war, but 
devouring their own kindred in times of food scarcity. The 
Miamis clung to the horrible custom longer than any of the 
other tribes, keeping it up until after the Revolutionary War. 

Indiana Indians Algonquins. Most of the Indian tribes 
in Indiana were members of the Algonquin family. A 
majority of them, among whom were the Twigh twees, Weas, 
Piankashaws and Shockneys, were members of the formidable 
Miami confederacy. The tribes were frequently at war 
with one another, and migrated from place to place. 

Aside from the Twightwees or Miamis, the Delawares, 
Shawnees, Wyandots and Potawatamis were the strongest 
of the tribes in Indiana. Tecumseh and his brother, the 
Prophet, were of the fierce Shawnee tribe. Little Turtle, 
one of the greatest of Indian warriors, was a Miami. 



CHAPTER III 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS 

Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in Indiana; Discovery 
of the Ohio River. The exact date when white men first set 
foot upon the soil of 
what is now Indiana 
is not known. That 
it was sometime prior 
to 1657 has been 
claimed, because in 
that year an official 
"Map of New France" 
was published on 
which the course of 
the Maumee River, 
which has its source 
in the state, was traced 
with reasonable ac- 
curacy. It is surmised 
that intrepid French 
hunters from Quebec 
and Montreal may 
have crossed Lake 
Erie and found their way into Indiana soon after those early 
northern settlements were made (1608 and 1642, respectively), 
but there is no actual record of any European having invaded 
the vast new country south of the Great Lakes before the 
voyage of La Salle, in 1669. That missionaries or hunters 

27 




La Salle 



28 EARLY EXPLORATIONS 

may have visited the region prior to that time without leav- 
ing any account of their adventures is altogether possible, 
though the point is not important, except as it is made so 
by writers for sentimental or controversial reasons. 

Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who was commandant 
at Fort Frontenac, now Kingston, on the northern shore of 
Lake Ontario, sailed down the Ohio River in 1669, skirting 
the southern border of what is now Indiana. He was on a 
voyage of discovery, seeking the " Great River " (Missis- 
sippi), and a passage to Japan and China. There was also 
some motive of opening up trade with Mexico, where gold 
discoveries of untold richness had been reported. 

La Salle started on his voyage from La Chine, near Mon- 
treal, July 6, 1669, with seven canoes and twenty-four men. 
Associated with him were two Sulpician priests, Dollier and 
Gallinee, but these deserted him at the western extremity 
of Lake Ontario. At this place the La Salle expedition was 
met by Louis Joliet, who was returning from an unsuccessful 
search for the lost copper mines of Lake Superior. It was 
upon his report that Dollier and Gallinee withdrew, and 
proceeded to the Upper Lake regions to endeavor to convert 
the Potawatami Indians. 

From the time of the meeting with Joliet and the deser- 
tion of the two priests the accounts of La Salle's voyage are 
obscure, or rather, records are lacking altogether. Some 
writers say he crossed the territory now comprised within 
the state of Indiana by ascending the Maumee from Lake 
Erie, crossing the portage to the Wabash, and descending 
that stream to the Ohio, while others maintain, and with a 
much better show of probability, that he entered the Ohio 
at the present site of Pittsburg, by way of the Allegheny. 
The essential fact that he discovered the Ohio^ and navigated 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS 29 

it as far as the Falls at New Albany, and perhaps almost to 
its mouth, is well established. 

In a memorial to the king in 1677, speaking of himself in 
the third person, La Salle says: '^ In the year 1667, and those 
following, he made divers voyages with much expense, in 
which he for the first time explored many countries to the 
south of the great lakes, and among others the great river 
of Ohio; he followed it to a place where it empties, after a 
long course, into vast marshes, at the latitude of 37 degrees, 
after having been increased by another river, very large, 
which comes from the north; and all these waters discharge 
themselves, according to all appearances, into the Gulf of 
Mexico." 

This would indicate, if La Salle's calculations as to latitude 
are correct (and it is presumed they are, for Henri Joutel 
says of him in his journal that he was a man '^well enough 
learned, and understanding in the Mathematicks "), that 
he must have approached very nearly to the mouth of the 
Ohio. " He may have arrived there at a time when the 
Mississippi was overflowing, in which case the backwater 
in the Ohio, the overflowed bottom-lands, and the extensive 
canebrakes that then existed on both its banks below the 
mouth of the Tennessee, might very naturally have caused 
him to believe that it emptied into vast marshes." ^ That 
other river, " very large, which comes from the north," was 
without doubt the Wabash. 

It is fairly certain that La Salle also crossed the north- 
western corner of the state in 1671 or 1672, by way of the 
St. Joseph of the Lake, and the Kankakee, on his way 
to the Illinois. After this there was no further explora- 
tion of Indiana, so far as any known records show, until 

1 J. P. Dunn. 



30 EARLY EXPLORATIONS 

La Salle's memorable expedition of 1679-80. It is reason- 
ably certain, however, that missionaries and fur traders had 
begun to find their way into the region ere this. La Salle 
himself was interested in commerce as well as exploration 
and discovery, and through trusted emissaries built up an 
extensive trade with the Indians, extending it systematically 
among the new tribes encountered on his voyages. Game and 
fur-bearing animals were very plentiful in portions of Indiana. 
La Salle's Later Voyages and his Exploration of the Missis- 
sippi; Takes Possession for France; His Trade with the 
Indians. In 1679 La Salle set out to secure possession of 
the Mississippi for France and to open up trade with Mexico. 
On the Niagara River, just above the Falls, he constructed 
the Griffon, which was the first vessel ever launched on the 
waters of the upper Great Lakes. Sailing first to Green 
Bay, Wisconsin, he loaded the Griffon with furs and sent 
it back to Niagara with orders to obtain a cargo of supplies 
and return to him at the mouth of the Chicago River, or 
somewhere in the vicinity. The vessel was never again 
heard of. It is possible that the records of La Salle's explora- 
tions of 1669 and the year following were lost with this 
vessel, accounting for the dearth of authentic information 
concerning his first voyage to the Southwest and his explora- 
tion of the Ohio. From Green Bay La Salle returned by a 
fleet of canoes to the east side of the Lake, and, entering the 
St. Joseph River, constructed on the south bank of the stream 
a fort which he called Miami. Later, ascending the St. 
Joseph and crossing over the portage to the headwaters of 
the Kankakee, he descended that stream to the Illinois, 
thence sailed down the Illinois to Peoria Lake, where in 1680 
he constructed Fort Crevecoeur, — Broken Heart (so named 
because of the loss of the Griffon). He spent the winter 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS 31 

there, waiting the expected arrival of the Griffon, intending 
to continue his voyage to the Mississippi. But the vessel 
failing to put in its appearance, he was forced to return to 
Fort Frontenac, a thousand miles distant. Retracing his 
steps later in the year, he found Fort Crevecoeur destroyed 
by the Indians, first having been deserted by the small garri- 
son left in charge, and he was forced to turn back and seek 
shelter at Fort Miami, on the St. Joseph. 

Late in the season of 1681 La Salle again made his way 
to the Illinois River and sailed down that stream to the 
Mississippi. Continuing his voyage he reached the Gulf of 
Mexico in 1682, and going upon the shore took possession 
of the entire country in the name of Louis XIV. He called 
it Louisiana, in honor of his king. The territory comprised 
within what is now Indiana was a part of Louisiana. 

While La Salle was not the first to discover the Mississippi, 
that honor belonging to Joliet and Marquette (1673), he was 
nevertheless one of the most intrepid of all the early French 
explorers. He died at the hands of assassins in 1687. 

Though La Salle carried on an extensive and profitable 
trade with the Indians, especially along the Wabash and 
Ohio rivers, he established no post or settlement within the 
present territorial limits of Indiana. His principal post was 
at Fort St. Louis, on the south side of the Illinois River, 
opposite the present town of Utica. To this place he in- 
duced practically all the Indians in Indiana to remove in 
1682, and form an alliance for mutual protection against 
the Iroquois, who were making war upon the tribes. The 
Iroquois were also unfriendly to La Salle, refused to trade 
with him, and had threatened him with death. The tribes 
forming the alliance straggled back into Indiana between the 
years 1702 and 1712. 



32 EARLY EXPLORATIONS 

Visits of the French Missionaries. Beginning with the 
years of La Salle's later explorations, Indiana was visited by 
many zealous French missionaries, seeking to convert the 
Indians to the Christian religion. Through their fearless 
and self-sacrificing activities, and the restless enterprise of 
the coureurs de bois (wood rangers), hunters, and trappers, 
no part of the country remained long unexplored. The 
missionaries AUouez and Dablon, whose principal activities 
were around Green Bay, Wisconsin, visited the Indians, 
near the southern shores of Lake Michigan, in 1672. Many 
others came between that date and 1712. The traders 
followed ever in the wake of the missionaries, sometimes 
moving in advance of them, and bartered with the Indians 
for their furs, and sold them bad whisky. This made the 
work of the missionaries very difficult, sometimes seeming 
to nullify it altogether.^ 

1 The pious Jesuits held up the cross of Christ and unfolded the mysteries 
of the Catholic religion in broken Indian to these astonished savages, while 
the speculating traders offered them fire water and other articles of mer- 
chandise in exchange for their peltries, and the rangers (coureurs de bois), 
shaking loose every tie of blood and kindred, identified themselves with the 
savages, and sank into utter barbarism. The Jesuit missionaries were 
always cordially received by the Miami tribes. These Indians would listen 
patiently to the strange story of the Savior and salvation, manifest a willing 
belief in all they heard, and then, as if to entertain their visitors in return, 
they would tell them the story of their own simple faith in the Manitous, 
and stalk away with a groan of dissatisfaction because the missionaries 
would not accept their story with equal courtesy. — Goodrich. 



CHAPTER IV 
EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

Miamis, Ouiatenon, and Vincennes. The first adven- 
turous spirits who invaded the soil of Indiana for the 
purposes of trade or commercial pursuits, or for the establish- 
ment of homes, were not impressed with the importance of 
keeping records or dates of their movements, and early 
French military records were about as deficient. Hence we 
are not able to say positively where or when the first military 
or permanent trading post was established, or when the first 
actual settlement was made. 

It is certain that the old Piankashaw village (Chipkawkay), 
that stood on the site of the present city of Vincennes; the 
Wea village (Ouiatenon), on the upper Wabash, near the 
place where Post Ouiatenon was later constructed; and 
the Twightwee, or Miami village (Kekionga), where the city 
of Fort Wayne now stands, were visited by missionaries and 
traders '' at a very early period of the eighteenth century — 
perhaps as early as 1702." ^ 

The date of the establishment of the post at Vincennes, 
especially, has long been a subject of controversy. One 
writer names the year 1702, and a tablet bearing that date 
adorns the front of the Knox County courthouse. It is 
almost certainly an error, however, arising, it is thought, 
from the similarity of the name of a fort (St. Vincent) 
established by M. de Juchereau in 1702 at the mouth of the 
Ohio, and the further fact that the early writers and ex- 

1 Dillon. 
33 



34 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

plorers frequently confused the names of the Ohio and 
Wabash rivers — applying the name Ouabache both to the 
Wabash and the lower Ohio. 

Other writers and investigators, relying upon different 
sources of information and proceeding by various methods 
of reasoning, have fixed the establishment of the post in 
other years, ranging all the way from 1680 to 1735. The 
Indiana Historical Society, taking up the matter within 
recent years, was fortunate enough to secure, through the 
cooperation of Consul General John K. Gowdy, certain 
documents from the French archives at Paris, throwing 
important light upon the question. Among the documents 
were two letters written in 1733 by Commandant Sieur de 
Vincennes himself, in which he discloses certain information 
pointing beyond a reasonable doubt to the establishment of 
the post as having taken place in the summer of 1731. This, 
unless new and more important discoveries of a contra- 
dictory nature are made, is likely to be accepted as the final 
word upon the subject.^ 

And after a careful sifting of all available evidence, com- 
petent authorities have adopted the year 1720 as the most 
probable date of the establishment of Ouiatenon, and accord 
to it the honor of being the oldest outpost of civilization in 
the state. Sieur Dubuisson was designated to the command 
of Post Ouiatenon late in the year 1719, but the language of 
M. de Vaudreuil, Commandant at Detroit, in announcing 
the fact, leaves it a little uncertain whether he was sent to 
take charge of a post already in existence or was expected 
to establish a new one. The view that he established the 
post the following year (1720) is generally accepted. No 
record of an earlier occupancy can be found. 

' Reference: Proceedings Indiana Historical Society, Vol. 3. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 35 

The commandant was also burdened with the duty of 
securing, if possible, a removal of the Miami, Ouiatenon, and 
other Indian tribes to the vicinity of the St. Joseph River, 
where they would be less exposed to British influence. The 
superior abilities and great influence of Sieur de Vincennes 
were being employed in this task when he died suddenly at 
the Miami village of Kekionga, in 1719. Dubuisson did not 
remain long in charge of Ouiatenon, but was succeeded by 
Francis Margane, a nephew of Sieur de Vincennes, who 
succeeded to his deceased uncle's title, and later acquired a 
large measure of his influence. 

The date when Post Miamis, at the head of the Maumee, 
was established, is more uncertain. It doubtless followed 
soon after Ouiatenon, and some say it antedated Ouiatenon. 
Authentic information is lacking. This post should not be 
confused with Fort Miami, established by La Salle near the 
mouth of the St. Joseph of the Lake, in 1679. 

Miamis and Ouiatenon were controlled from Canada, 
although the Mississippi Company, holding the French con- 
cession for Louisiana, claimed the territory now comprising 
Indiana as a part of the District of Illinois. The boundary 
line between the two jurisdictions was finally located in the 
vicinity of where the city of Terre Haute now stands. The 
provincial seat of government for Miamis and Ouiatenon 
was at Detroit. Vincennes was controlled from Fort Char- 
tres, District of Illinois.^ New Orleans was the capital of 

' Fort Chartres, the seat of government of the "District of IHinois," 
Province of Louisiana, was founded in 1720. It was partially destroyed 
by a flood in the Mississippi in 1772, and abandoned, the garrison being 
removed to Fort Gage, near Kaskaskia. This was during the British occu- 
pancy', the French having ceded the territory in 1763. It has been referred 
to as the first capital of Indiana, but the statement is not strictly accurate. 
Governmental authority was first exercised over Indiana soil from Detroit, 
of the Province of Canada, in 1720, when Post Ouiatenon was established. 



36 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

the province. There was thus a rivalry, and some jealousy, 
between the two French jurisdictions. The directors of the 
Mississippi Company, by offering him superior inducements, 
persuaded Sieur de Vincennes to resign the command of 
Post Ouiatenon and transfer his allegiance to the Province of 
Louisiana. There was an urgent call for the establishment 
of a post farther down on the Ouabache (Wabash), to hold 
the trade with the Indians, and protect French sovereignty 
against the encroachments of the English, which every day 
grew more menacing. So about the year 1731, as stated, 
Vincennes proceeded to build a little palisade fort at the 
Piankashaw town of Chippecoke, or Chipkawkay. He as- 
sumed command, and remained in charge until 1736, when 
he was killed in a battle with the Indians. 

This post was not known by the name of Vincennes until 
about the year 1752. Before that it was simply '' The Post," 
" Old Post " {au post) or '' Opost," as it later came to be 
called by the Americans. 

Death of *' Indiana's First Ruler." The battle in which 
Vincennes lost his life was one waged against the Chickasaw 
Indians, at the mouth of the Ohio. D'Artaguiette, com- 
mandant at Fort Chartres, was in charge of the campaign. 
Vincennes came to his assistance with the little garrison he 
had at his disposal at Post Vincennes. The French made an 
attack on the Chickasaw village, not knowing that a large 
body of braves, and a few Englishmen, were in hiding a short 
distance away. These delivered their counter attack sud- 

Fort Chartres was founded the same year, and Indiana was later divided 
between the jurisdictions of Louisiana and Canada, but Vincennes, the 
first and only Indiana settlement under the Louisiana jurisdiction, was not 
established until 1731. So Detroit may easily claim a division of honors 
with Fort Chartres as Indiana's first capital, if indeed it is not entitled to 
distinct priority. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS oT 

denly, and the French were overwhehned with dreadful 
slaughter. Lieutenant St. Ange, of Fort Chartres, fell an 
early victim and Vincennes soon followed. D'Artaguiette 
and a number of others were captured and burned at the 
stake. " Charlevoix tells us that ' Vincennes ceased not 
until his last breath to exhort the men to behave worthy of 
their religion and their country.' Be that his epitaph; and 
be it a matter of pride to Indiana that her first ruler was so 
brave a man and so true." ^ 

End of French Sovereignty ; Britain's Brief Sway. Vin- 
cennes was succeeded in the command of Post Vincennes by 
Louis St. Ange, a brother of Lieutenant St. Ange, who lost 
his life in the battle just narrated. His occupancy con- 
tinued from 1736 until he was transferred to Fort Chartres 
in 1764, the next year after the conclusion of a treaty ceding 
the territory to England. 

Although the posts had been surrendered to them and were 
at their disposal, the English were unable to take possession, 
largely on account of the hostile attitude of the Indians, 
preventing the approach of the English officers. The French 
were thus left in charge. N. de Villiers, commandant at 
Fort Chartres, voluntarily quit that post in the spring of 
1764, and it was to relieve him that St. Ange left Post Vin- 
cennes. Before going, he transferred his authority at Vin- 
cennes to M. Deroit de Richardville, and Sieur le Caindre. 
There is no record, however, that these gentlemen ever 
exercised the authority conferred, or that government of 
any kind existed at Vincennes from the departure of St. 
Ange in 1764 until Lieutenant Governor Abbott came from 
Detroit to take charge in 1777 — unless we except the 
ministrations of M. Nicholas, who was " employed as Justice 

1 J. p. Dunn. 
Moore, Ind.— 3 



38 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

of the Peace there, by some authority from the commanding 
officer at the IlHnois." ' 

Indiana nominally passed under British control October 
10, 1765, on which date Louis St. Ange surrendered Fort 
Chartres, capital of the District of Illinois, Province of 
Louisiana, to Captain Sterling, of the British Army. 

In 1774, or nine years later, the territory northwest of 
the Ohio became a part of the Province of Quebec, and 
arrangement was made that the Lieutenant Governor of 
Detroit should be ^' Superintendent of Vincennes." Accord- 
ingly Lieutenant Governor Abbott arrived to take charge in 
May, 1777.2 He was recalled early the next year and suc- 
ceeded by Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, who in turn 
found it expedient shortly afterwards to relinquish his official 
responsibilities to George Rogers Clark, a Virginian. 

Character and Value of Trade at the French Posts; the 
Centennial Census. Posts Miamis and Ouiatenon early 
became important trading centers, and in time a number of 
white families made their homes about them, but the growth 

1 In addition to the exercise of the duties of Justice of the Peace by 
M. Nicholas, the records show that there were a few concessions of land from 
1770 to 1773, signed by Ste. Marie, and two in 1768, one signed byChaparlee 
and the other by Chapard, apparently the same person. 

2 In his report to Governor Carleton, Lieutenant Governor Abbott wrote, 
of the condition of affairs at Vincennes: " Since the conquest of Canada no 
person bearing his majesty's commission has been to take possession ; from 
this your excellancy may easily imagine what anarchy reigns. I must do 
the inhabitants justice for the respectful reception I met with, and for their 
readiness in obeying the orders I thovight necessary to issue. The Wabache 
is perhaps one of the finest rivers in the world ; on itsbanks are several Indian 
towns; the most considerable is the Oujii (Wea), where, it is said, there are 
one thousand men capable to bear arms. I found them so numerous and 
needy 1 could not pass without great expense. The presents, though very 
large, were in a manner despised, saying their Ancient Fathers (the French) 
never spoke to them without a barn full of goods; having no troops and only 
a handful of French, obliged me to acquiesce in part of their exorbitant 
demands." 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 39 

of Vincennes was more rapid, and for many reasons it leads 
the other two settlements in historic interest. 

Although under the jurisdiction of New Orleans, the trade 
of Vincennes was principally with Canada. It consisted 
almost wholly in peltries bought of the Indians or gathered 
by white hunters from the settlement. These were trans- 
ported by canoe or pirogue up the Wabash and Little Wabash 
rivers, thence carried across the portage to the Maumee, 
where they were again loaded into boats and taken down the 
Maumee and across Lake Erie to Canada, there to be sold 
or exchanged. Detroit was the principal point of distribu- 
tion. Later, products raised by the settlers on the land 
donated to the post by the Indians were placed in boats 
and floated down the Wabash to the Ohio, thence to the 
Mississippi and to New Orleans.^ 

The value of the fur trade at Vincennes for the year 1778 
was estimated at five thousand pounds sterling, or over 
$24,000, and at Ouiatenon, eight thousand pounds sterling, 
or nearly $39,000. According to the records of the custom- 
house at Quebec, the value of furs and peltries exported from 
Canada during the year 1786 was 225,977 pounds sterling, 
a sum equal to $1,098,248. The great value of the fur traffic 
in those early years is thus apparent. 

In 1769, curiously enough just one hundred years after 
La Salle first cast his eyes upon our territory, a census was 
taken of the French settlements. It showed a French 
population at Vincennes of two hundred sixty-six, consist- 

' The grant referred to was made by the Piankashaw Indians in 1742, 
and consisted of twenty-four leagues square of land. It was intended, and 
generally treated, as a grant for the benefit of the people of the post, in 
common, but the early commandants assumed the power of making con- 
cessions from it to individuals. The u.sage was continued until the time of 
the American occupation, when the action of the first organized court was 
cepudiated by Congress, and the practice broken up. 



40 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

ing of sixty-six heads of families, fifty women and one 
hundred fifty children. At Ouiatenon there were twelve 
families, and at Fort Miamis, nine. So the total French 
population of the territory a century after its discovery did 
not exceed three hundred and fifty souls. Nor was there 
any appreciable growth for the next two decades, for the 
white population of what is now Indiana was estimated to 
be only about four hundred at the time of the adoption of 
the Ordinance of 1787. 

In Vincennes a majority of the people were supported by 
agriculture; at Ouiatenon and Miamis, by trading in peltries 
and furs. 

Glimpses at Early Vincennes. C. F. Volney, a distin- 
guished French traveler who visited Vincennes in 1796, 
reflected in an interesting way the estimation in which the 
French inhabitants were held by the later arrivals from the 
English colonies to the east: '' We muse allow, say they, that 
they are a kind, hospitable, sociable sect'; but then for idle- 
ness and ignorance they beat the Indians themselves. They 
know nothing at all of our civil or domestic affairs. Their 
women neither sew, nor spin, nor make butter. The men 
take to nothing but hunting, fishing, roaming through the 
woods and loitering in the sun. They do not lay up, as we 
do, for winter, or provide for a rainy day. They do not cure 
pork or venison, make sauerkraut or spruce beer, or distill 
spirits from apples or rye — all needful arts to the 
farmer." 

At this time the town contained about fifty dwelling 
houses, each " surrounded by a garden fenced with poles. 
Peach trees, and inferior kinds of apple trees grew in many 
of the inclosures. Many different kinds of garden vegetables 
were cultivated by the inhabitants, and corn, tobacco^ 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 41 

wheat, barley, and even cotton grew in the fields around 
the village." 

" The social condition of the early French settlers on the 
borders of the river Wabash," observes John B. Dillon, the 
premier historian of early Indiana, " was formed in some 
measure by the influence of the manners and customs which 
prevailed among the Indian tribes with whom they main- 
tained a friendly intercourse. While the barbarism of the 
Indians w^as, in some degree, softened by this intercourse, 
the morals of the French were not improved. The pioneer 
Frenchmen readily adopted the business of the traders, 
boatmen, and hunters; but they made no efforts to become 
either learned in letters, or skillful in agricultural pursuits, 
or ingenious in the practice of mechanic arts. Dancing, 
running footraces, jumping, wrestling, and shooting at 
marks, were among their favorite amusements. Their mode 
of observing religious duties did not impose on them any 
heavy burdens. Their manners and customs carried them 
above a condition of barbarism, but left them below a state 
of true civilization." 

The only school maintained for the benefit of the children 
.of the early French inhabitants was that opened in 1793 
by M. Rivet, a " polite, well-educated and liberal-minded 
missionary, banished hither by the French Revolution." 
Students could attend this school only upon payment of 
tuition, and its facilities accordingly were open to but few. 
It was the first school in Indiana. 

The first permanent mission, or church in Indiana, was 
that opened at Vincennes in 1749 by the missionary Sebast. 
Lud. Meurin, and it is said to have remained the only church 
in the state for a half-century. William H. Smith, in his 
History of Indiana, relates that the first Protestant sermon 



42 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

preached in Indiana was at Vincennes in the year 1810, by 
the Rev. WiUiam Winans, a young minister of the Methodist 
denomination. His audience consisted of General WilHam 
Henry Harrison, then Governor of the Territory, and a 
young army Heutenant. General Harrison held the solitary 
candle provided for the occasion, while the minister read his 
scripture lesson and his hymns. 

Nicholas's Conspiracy and Early Indian Troubles ; Destruc- 
tion of Pickawillany. The French settlers as a rule got on 
amicably with the Indians, and until 1747 there was but 
one episode that promised serious consequences. In 1733 
an affray occurred '* between some drunken young Ouiatenons 
and two or three French voyageurs, in an affair of trade," 
and steps were taken to launch a military expedition against 
the offending Indians. The matter was adjusted, however, 
before any blows were exchanged. 

In 1747 Fort Miamis was captured and burned by a 
company of Huron Indians from Ohio, .aided by members 
of the Miami, Ottawa, and Potawatami tribes of Indiana 
and Michigan. This act of hostility was a result of the 
'' Nicholas Conspiracy," formed by Chief Nicholas, or 
Sandoskit, of the Hurons, living in the vicinity of Sandusky 
Bay, in what is now the state of Ohio. The object of the 
conspiracy was to exterminate the French settlers in America, 
and the British were charged with having a hand in its 
instigation. It was discovered in its early stages, and 
thwarted, largely through the efforts of Commandant 
Longueuil, of Detroit. Eight men were captured when 
Fort Miamis was taken, but they were soon afterwards 
released, and the Indians, or most of them, agreed to terms 
of peace. The fort was rebuilt by Sieur Dubuisson shortly 
after its destruction. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 43 

The Miami Chief, La Demoselle, however, and a few 
other Indians, were unreconciled. They held aloof from the 
French, and during the year 1748 entered into an alliance 
with the British. The disaffection spread gradually among the 
Ouiatenons and Piankashaws, the British putting forth their 
best efforts to promote it. The rivalry between the French 
and English in the fur trade had by this time grown very keen. 

It is related that Cavalier Celoron de Bienville, returning 
from his celebrated mission in 1749 of staking off the French 
claim to the Ohio valley, by means of leaden plates buried 
at the piouths of streams, and tin plates nailed on trees, held 
a conference with La Demoselle, and secured a promise 
from him to return to his old village of Kishkakon, and live 
at peace with his French brothers as of old. He afterwards 
met Chief Coldfoot, and, in exuberant spirit, recounted to 
him the results of the interview, which he regarded as a happy 
termination of the Indian troubles. Coldfoot, who was both 
sagacious and loyal, replied: " I would that I were deceived, 
but I am sufficiently attached to the French to tell them that 
La Demoselle lies. My sole regret is to be the only one 
who loves you, and to see all the tribes to the south drawn 
away from the French." Subsequent events fully vindicated 
Coldfoot 's judgment. Instead of returning to the French 
La Demoselle continued to fraternize with the English, and 
in 1750 gave them permission to build a fort at the town of 
Pickawillany, on the Big Miami River. 

In the fall of 1751 the Indians under the influence of La 
Demoselle, and the British, who now made their headquarters 
at Pickawillany, killed four Frenchmen and a couple of 
slaves. Later in the year five more Frenchmen were killed, 
while a number of friendly Indians also fell victims to the 
savage hatred of their dusky kinsmen. 



44 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

No longer hoping for a reconciliation with the disaffected 
Indians, and being thoroughly aroused by these outrages, 
the French at Vincennes and on the Maumee determined 
to attack and destroy the Indian town of Pickawillany. 
Accordingly a surprise was planned, and on the twenty- 
first of June, 1752, a force of two hundred and forty French 
and friendly Indians marched against the place. Upon 
their approach the inhabitants took refuge in the fort, to 
which siege was laid, after the village had been destroyed. 
The fort not being provisioned, or otherwise prepared to 
withstand a siege, the proposition of the attacking Jorce to 
withdraw without further damage if the English in the fort 
were surrendered to them was acceded to. Accordingly the 
English were surrendered, with the exception of two, who 
were kept concealed. One of the prisoners was slain in 
sight of the fort, and the Indians of the party further 
indulged their savage instincts by roasting and eating an old 
Piankashaw chief taken with the English, who had been so 
notoriously friendly to them as to be known as " Old 
Britain." 

This act of vengeance against Pickawillany put an end to 
Indian depredations for the time being, but even at that the 
sky was far from cloudless, for the shadow of the approach- 
ing conflict between the French and the English for mastery 
grew darker day by day. 



CHAPTER V 

SAXON VERSUS GAUL 

The French and Indian War; Influences Leading to the 
Conflict. While the interesting events just narrated were 
taking place in the territory northwest of the Ohio, broader 
influences were at work here and elsewhere, which were to 
decide the fate of the continent. The English had settled 
the Atlantic coast, and a growing population was straining 
at the barriers for expansion westward beyond the moun- 
tains. The English settlements consisted of the thirteen 
colonies, which later fought for and won their political inde- 
pendence and became the original thirteen states of the 
American Union. The colonists were essentially home 
seekers and home builders. They settled in communities, 
acquired property interests, and became a homogeneous 
population, capable of acting together for a common or 
public interest. In this they enjoyed an overwhelming 
advantage over the French in the struggle for the great 
country both so ardently coveted. The French were less 
successful as colonizers, and less inclined to come in numbers 
from the mother country. Many of those who did come had 
little idea of forming permanent settlements and making 
their homes in the new world. They were hunters, traders, 
adventurers, and missionaries. They made friends with 
the Indians, partaking of their modes of life and even marry- 
ing among them. This explains the fact that in the strifes 
between the English and the French the latter generally had 
the help of the Indians. 

45 



46 SAXON VERSUS GAUL 

The French in Canada and in the Mississippi Valley. 
While the English held the Atlantic coast from Florida to 
Maine, the French, since about the year 1605, were in undis- 
puted control of Canada. And from Canada their traders 
and missionaries had entered what is now the western and 
middle United States. Marquette and Joliet in 1673, and 
La Salle in 1682, explored the upper Mississippi River, 
and La Salle explored the Ohio in 1669. Beginning about 
the year 1700 settlements were made at the mouth of the 
Mississippi and on the Gulf coast, and New Orleans was 
founded in 1718. The French design plainly was to fortify 
their claim to sovereignty in all the vast country known as 
the Mississippi valley, and confine the English settlements 
forever to the narrow strip of coast country bounded on the 
west by the Appalachian Mountains. They established a 
system of well-placed forts throughout the territory reach- 
ing southward from Quebec to New Orleans. Their plans 
were ingenious and comprehensive, biit lack of a homo- 
geneous French population to meet the united English 
settlements in trade competition and in the wilderness 
battles to follow was their fatal weakness. The English 
population at the beginning of the French and Indian 
War was not far from a million and a quarter of souls, 
while the population of all New France did not exceed 
one hundred thousand. Less than ten thousand of these 
were in the Mississippi valley. The white population 
of the territory northwest of the Ohio did not exceed two 
thousand. 

England's first permanent settlement in America was at 
Jamestown, in 1607. France planted her first small colony 
at Port Royal, in 1605. Quebec was founded in 1608. 
From this time until 1763, or more than a century and a 



SAXON VERSUS GAUL 47 

half, England and France fought out their New World 
rivalries for territory and commerce and trade. 

It was in furtherance of their plan to hold the Mississippi 
valley against the English, and incidentally to protect the 
trade being built up between Canada and Louisiana, follow- 
ing the route by way of the Maumee, Wabash, Ohio, and 
Mississippi rivers, that the posts at Ouiatenon, Vincennes, 
and Miamis, in the territory now comprised within the state 
of Indiana, were established. 

In their claim to sovereignty over the Ohio valley the 
French laid particular stress upon the discovery and explora- 
tion of the Ohio River by La Salle in 1669, and the later 
explorations of the Mississippi by La Salle and others. 
The English based their claim principally upon the explora- 
tion of the Kanawha in 1671 and a treaty of session by the 
Iroquois Indians in 1744. The Iroquois claimed all the 
great region north of the Ohio River, and westward, by reason 
of alleged conquests over the other Indian tribes. 

The War Begins; its Principal Events. The French and 
Indian W^ar, which was the fourth struggle fought out 
between England and France and their colonists in America, 
was formally declared in 1756, although hostilities really 
began in 1754.^ In that year the French drove away the 
English workmen who were building a fort on the site where 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, now stands, completing the fort 
themselves and calling it Fort Duquesne. In an attempt 
to retake this fort, George Washington, then a mere youth, 
leading a little band of four hundred men, was forced to 
surrender (July 4, 1754). Regular troops were shipped from 

1 The three wars preceding the French and Indian War were: King 
William's War, 1689-1697; Queen Anne's War, 1702-1713; King George's 
War, 1744-1748. 



48 SAXON VERSUS GAUL 

the mother eountries to prosecute the war, and the French, 
as in other contests, had the Indians for alhes. 

Important incidents in the war were Braddock's defeat in 
1755 while trying to take Fort Duquesne; the capture of 
this fort in 1758 by the EngHsh and the colonists, and its 
rechristening as Fort Pitt; the capture by the English of 
Ticonderoga in 1759, completing the practical expulsion of 
the French from what is now the United States; the famous 
victory in 1759 of Wolfe over Montcalm, on the Plains of 
Abraham, resulting in the capture of Quebec by the English. 
This completed the conquest of Canada, and the dream of 
a great French empire in America was shattered. Spain 
having joined the French as an ally, the English, aided by 
the colonists, now captured Havana, Cuba. 

The Treaty of Paris ; France and Spain Give Up Dominions 
in America. The treaty of peace signed at Paris in 1763 
restored Havana to Spain in exchange for Florida, which 
then became English. France retired fi'om North America, 
ceding all her claims west of the Mississippi and a small 
portion of territory east of the river, which surrounds New 
Orleans, to Spain; and to England she surrendered all the 
remainder of the continent east of the Mississippi River. 

Subsequent History of Louisiana Territory. The cession 
of Louisiana Territory had, in reality, taken place in 1762, 
as the result of a secret treaty between France and Spain. 
Spain continued in possession until 1801, when she was com- 
pelled to cede it back to France. France, in turn, in the 
year 1803, ceded it to the United States for a considera- 
tion of $15,000,000. At the beginning of negotiations the 
United States had little thought of taking over the whole 
territory, but through her commissioners to Napoleon, who 
was then in charge of the destinies of France, was prepared 



SAXON VERSUS GAUL 49 

to offer as much as $10,000,000 for New Orleans alone, since 
possession of that city by any country meant control of the 
navigation of the Mississippi. Napoleon expressed a willing- 
ness to sell the whole territory, and, strict constructionist 
though he was, President Thomas Jefferson could not see his 
way clear to let so great a bargain pass. The territory con- 
tained approximately 1,172,000 square miles, and by its 
acquisition our national domain was doubled. 

English Take Possession of Forts in Indiana. The Eng- 
lish took possession of forts Miamis and Ouiatenon in 1761, 
soon after the conquest of Canada. Vincennes, being under 
the jurisdiction of New Orleans, did not become subject to 
British control until after the treaty of Paris in 1763, and 
actual possession was not assumed until 1777, a year after 
the Declaration of Independence. And the British occupa- 
tion was of brief duration, for in August, 1778, while Lieu- 
tenant Governor Hamilton, who had succeeded Abbott, was 
away from the post, it was captured by Captain Leonard 
Helm, who had been sent on a mission for that purpose 
by General George Rogers Clark. Helm was compelled to 
surrender it again to the British in December of the same 
year, but Clark retook it in the following February, and the 
post, along with the vast country it defended, was lost 
to England and to monarchical government forever. The 
dramatic events attending the conquest are related fully in 
the next chapter. 

Settlers at Vincennes threatened with Expulsion. The 
colonial policy adopted b}' Great Britain following the French 
and Indian War was openly designed to prevent the ex- 
tension of white settlements into the region west of the 
Appalachians, and reflected the haunting fear, even at that 
time, of the upbuilding in the West of a great new country 



50 SAXON VERSUS GAUL 

imbued with the spirit of independence. The king issued a 
proclamation prohibiting his subjects from " making any 
purchases or settlements whatever or taking possession of 
any of the lands beyond the source of any of the rivers which 
fall into the Atlantic Ocean from the west or northwest." 
And in 1772 General Gage, the British commandant in 
America, issued a proclamation declaring that many persons, 
contrary to the orders of the king, had undertaken to make 
settlements beyond the boundaries fixed by the treaties made 
with the Indian nations, and that a great number of persons 
had established themselves, "particularly on the Ouabache 
(Wabash), where they lead a wandering life, without govern- 
ment and without laws, interrupting the free course of trade, 
destroying the game, and causing infinite disturbance in the 
country." Orders were therefore given in the name of the 
king to all of those who had established themselves on lands 
upon the Ouabache, " whether at St. Vincent (Vincennes) 
or elsewhere, to quit those countries instantly and without 
delay." To this the inhabitants of Vincennes replied, 
setting forth that they held their possessions by " sacred 
titles " granted by his Most Christian Majesty, and that the 
French settlement at Vincennes was of " seventy years 
standing." General Gage made rejoinder demanding the 
proof of their titles, which few could give, as deeds or records 
had not been kept, but no further steps were taken looking 
to their ejectment. The matter was dropped as the result 
of a new policy adopted in England, designed to enlist the 
sympathies of the French settlers with the Mother Country 
as against the English colonists, in the struggle for inde- 
pendence, which was now close at hand. 

Pontiac's Conspiracy and Other Indian Troubles; Causes 
for Indian Resentment. The wholesale transfer of their 



SAXON VERSUS GAUL 51 

lands from one European power to another without so much 
as saying by your leave, was looked upon with suspicion and 
resentment by the Indians. Besides, they especially disliked 
the English, for their methods of clearing up the land and 
extending settlements, crowding the Indians back stage by 
stage in front of their ever advancing frontiers, were well 
known to the Indians, and were contrasted unfavorably by 
them with the habits of the French in refraining from such 
encroachments. The French did very little in the way of 
extending their settlements, and they traded and otherwise 
associated with the Indians on much more equal and familiar 
terms than the English ever did. Then the French, not being 
themselves overburdened with love for the English, because 
of commercial and political rivalries in which they usually 
got the worst of it, cultivated the Indians' mistrust and general 
spirit of hostility toward the English in every way possible. 
The Fated Nine. These deep-seated prejudices, aided by 
the incitement of the French, made it comparatively easy 
for Pontiac, the celebrated Ottawa chief, to form the great 
Indian uprising of 1763, known as Pontiac's con.spiracy. 
The plot was conceived in 1762, and carefully and cunningly 
planned for a year in advance.^ Pontiac succeeded in unit- 

1 Following the fall of Quebec in 1759, the French agreed to surrender 
all of Canada to the British. Accordingly, Major Robert Rogers was dis- 
patched the next year with a small body of men to take possession of Detroit. 
Being apprised of Rogers' advance, Pontiac met him on the way and de- 
manded to know of him how he dared invade that country without first 
securing his (Pontiac's) permission. Rogers assured him in reply that no 
hostile intentions were treasured against the Indians; that the purpose of 
the expedition, in fact, was merely to remove the French who had prevented 
the Indians and the English from being good friends. Pontiac accepted 
the presents tendered with this polite speech, but added laconically, " I shall 
stand till morning in the path you are walking." The English well under- 
stood the warning, and discreetly awaited the great chief's permission before 
proceeding further. The next daj' another conference was held, as a result 



oJ: SAXON VERSUS GAUL 

ing in the conspiracy practically all the tribes of the great 
Algonquian family and the Senecas and Wyandots, and 
others. The aim was to capture and destroy all the English 
forts west of the Appalachians, eleven in number; and so 
near to complete success did they come that only two escaped. 
These were forts Pitt and Detroit. Ouiatenon and Miamis 
were the only two posts in Indiana held by the English at that 
time, and they were both taken, the former on June 1, 
1763, and the latter a short time afterwards. Each was 
taken by stratagem. No lives were lost at Ouiatenon, the 
garrison being made prisoners of war, but Ensign Holmes and 
a Sergeant were slain at Miamis, and the rest of the garrison 
made prisoners. Those captured in either instance were 
fortunate to escape massacre, for at other places little mercy 
was shown. The forts taken were referred to afterward as 
the " fated nine." 

The war lasted until late in the year 1764, when the Indians 
were compelled to make peace, and the English again took 
possession of the posts that had been captured. 

LaBalme Raids Fort and is Massacred. In 1780 a French- 
man named LaBalme organized a small company of followers 
at Kaskaskia and Vincennes and, marching upon Fort Miamis, 
then held by the British, surprised and captured it. After 
destroying considerable property and committing depreda- 
tions against the traders around the post, he moved out a 
short distance and went into camp. That night the Indians 
attacked the camp, killing LaBalme and several of his men. 

ot which the EngHsh were not onl}' allowed to proceed with a promise of 
protection, but Pontiac himself accompanied them. But he seems to have 
forgotten his professions of friendship soon afterwards. 

Pontiac died the victim of assassination in 1767, and Louis St. Ange, 
who had been French Commandant at Vincennes and at Fort Chartres 
successivelv, buried him near the fort at St. Louis withHhe honors of war. 



SAXON VERSUS GAUL 53 

Death of Colonel Loughrey. In 1781 Colonel Archibald 
Loughrey (or Locliry), in command of a company of about 
one hundred Pennsylvania volunteers, on his way down 
the Ohio to join General George Rogers Clark in his proposed 
expedition against Detroit, was surprised by the Indians 
at the mouth of what is now known as Loughrey Creek, in 
Dearborn County, and about half of his men were killed. 
He himself was taken prisoner, and was killed and scalped 
shortly afterwards. 



MooRK, Ini>.— 4. 



CHAPTER VI 
THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 

Tyranny Leads to Resistance by the Colonies; Opening and 
Closing Events. The French and Indian War is looked upon 
by historians as a sort of prelude to the war of the American 
Revolution. In the former contest the English colonists 
fought side by side with the British regulars, and the ex- 
perience and military training acquired by them were used 
to excellent advantage in their struggle for independence so 
soon to follow. They possessed a greater skill in the kind 
of warfare practiced by the French and Indians than did 
their proud British cousins, who disdained to listen to their 
advice or suggestions, and more than once came to grief 
because of their arrogance. Naturally confidence in their 
own abihty to cope with British arms rose with their ripening 
contempt for British stupidity and bumptiousness. 

A persistent policy of tyranny upon the part of the British 
crown led to armed resistance by the colonists, and finally 
to the Declaration of Independence, which was proclaimed 
July 4, 1776. The war in reality began April 19, 1775, 
with the battles of Lexington and Concord. 

The struggle was a long and bitter one, culminating in 
victory for the colonists, and the establishment of the gov- 
ernment of which we are so proud to own citizenship. The 
end of the war came with the surrender of Lord Cornwallis 
at Yorktown, Virginia, October 19, 1781, and a treaty of 
peace acknowledging American independence was concluded 
September 3, 1783. 

54 



THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



55 



Far-reaching Importance of Clark's Capture of Vincennes. 
One of the heroic deeds of this war was performed in what is 

now Indiana, and the 

consequences were of 
far - reaching import- 
ance. We refer to the 
capture of Vincennes 
by General George 
Rogers Clark and his 
intrepid band of Ken- 
tucky followers. By 
virtue of this capture, 
and that at Kaskaskia, 
the United States was 
enabled to make suc- 
cessful claim to all that 
vast territory northwest 
of the Ohio River from 
the Appalachian Moun- 
tains to the Mississippi. 
What this meant by 
way of added wealth and power and prestige, to the 
American government and its institutions, was probably 
beyond the realization of the people of that time. Out 
of the territory thus wrested from England the states of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan were formed, 
and by the removal of the barrier of a strip of alien territory 
between the government and the Mississippi, the way was 
paved for the subsequent purchase of Louisiana Territory 
trom France, and the acquisitions from Mexico, which ex- 
tended our national domain to the Pacific Ocean. 

General Clark conceived the idea of capturing Vincennes, 




General Clark 



56 THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 

Kaskaskia, and Detroit principally as a means of putting a 
stop to Indian depredations into Kentucky, not realizing 
himself the great significance of the task he was about to 
undertake. The Indian outrages were being incited by 
British officers at the posts north of the Ohio to harass 
Virginia, of which state Kentucky was a part. Clark visited 
Governor Patrick Henry at Williamsburg, Virginia, and laid 
his plans before him, with the result that he was given a 
commission to raise seven companies of volunteers of fifty- 
nine men each, with which to capture the British posts 
named. His real mission was not made public, however, and 
when raising his little army of volunteers it was given out 
that their services were to be employed against the Indians 
only. 

The " Army " Moves Forward ; Kaskaskia Taken ; Captain 
Helm at Vincennes. Of the men finally enlisted only two 
hundred appeared at the rendezvous at Corn Island, which 
is an island in the Ohio River opposite where the city of 
Louisville now stands, and about a fourth of these refused 
to proceed farther when the real object of the expedition was 
made known to them. It was in truth a perilous expedition, 
into an unknown country, against an enemy of unknown 
power. But Clark was undaunted, and having succeeded 
in arousing the enthusiasm of the one hundred and fifty- 
three brave fellows who remained, he set out with his 
" army " by boats on June 24, 1778. The start was made 
'' Sit the very moment of the sun being in a great eclipse, 
which caused various conjectures among the superstitious." 
Four days down the Ohio brought them to the mouth of 
the Tennessee, where they disembarked and began their 
march of one hundred and twenty miles through wilderness 
and swamps to Kaskaskia. Arriving opposite Fort Gage on 



THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 57 

the night of July 4, they secured boats, crossed over, took 
the place by surprise, and captured it.^ The French settlers, 
who at first w^re greatly excited, were quickly reassured, 
and induced to subscribe to an oath of allegiance to 
Virginia. Father Gibault, a Catholic priest, volunteered 
to go to Vincennes with a view of inducing the French 
settlers there to espouse the American cause. The mission 
of course was undertaken upon the suggestion of General 
Clark, who desired to learn the real conditions at the 
Wabash settlement. Upon his arrival Gibault found 
the British absent and no garrison at the fort. Becoming 
active among the settlers, he induced them to swear alle- 
giance, and by telling the Indians that their great French 
Father, who had always been so kind to them, was now a 
friend of the Americans, persuaded them also to smoke the 
pipe of peace. Receiving this good news. General Clark 
sent Captain Leonard Helm, about the middle of August, 
1778, to take possession of the fort and make treaties of 
friendship and alliance with the Indians, particularly the 
Piankashaws, living at and around the post. The head 
chief of the Piankashaws was named Tabac. His father 
had borne the same name, and he was therefore known as 
Young Tabac, or " Tobacco's Son." His tribe lived nearest 
the mouth of the Wabash, and commanded its navigation. 
Hence the chief bore the additional title of the Grand Door 
of the Wabash. After several clays of ceremonious negotia- 
tion and a thorough explanation of the causes of war between 
the British and the Americans, Tabac announced his belief 

1 It is related that a dance was in progress at the fort when General 
Clark entered it unannounced. As soon as his presence became known au 
alarm was given, and the dancers prepared to disperse. " Keep on with 
your merriment," Clark is said to have shouted reassuringly, " but remember 
that you now dance under the authority of Virginia and not Great Britain." 



58 THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 

that the latter were in the right, and that he would thence- 
forth ally himself with the " Big Knives " and become one 
of them. Other tribes followed his example, some of the 
chiefs traveling as far as five hundred miles to conclude 
treaties with General Clark. This splendid success in secur- 
ing the friendship of the Indians was not only a monument 
to the diplomacy of Clark and Helm, but it proved of ines- 
timable value to the American cause generally. 

Captain Helm Caught by the British and Vincennes Re- 
taken. Colonel Henry Hamilton, lieutenant governor of 
Detroit, being apprised of these acts of American audacity, 
raised a force of five hundred militia and Indians and started 
out -with the purpose not only of retaking Vincennes but of 
capturing General Clark and his force at Kaskaskia. He 
arrived almost within sight of Vincennes in December, 1778, 
before his approach was discovered. But when Captain 
Helm became aware of his proximity he immediately garri- 
soned the fort, his entire command consisting of one brave- 
hearted, able-bodied American. Together Helm and his man 
loaded up the cannon and waited for the battle to begin. 
Hamilton demanded an immediate surrender, but Helm 
replied that he must know the terms first, and until they were 
announced no man should approach the fort on pain of being 
riddled ^vith shot. Thinking such brave words could come 
only from a man well able to back them up with deeds, 
Hamilton offered him the honors of war. Thereupon Helm 
surrendered, and the British flag was once more hoisted over 
the fort. Hamilton is said to have felt very foolish when he 
saw the size of the garrison that had been able to exact from 
him such favorable terms of capitulation. 

Capture and Release of Francis Vigo and How He Kept 
His Oath. The next day after Vincennes had fallen into 



THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 59 

the hands of the British, Francis Vigo arrived, having come 
from Kaskaskia at the request of General Clark to supply 
Captain Helm with provisions. Knowing nothing of the 
events of the previous day, he fell into the hands of the 
British and was captured. Vigo was a wealthy merchant 
of St. Louis, and a native of Sardinia, but he had served in 
the Spanish army. His trip to Vincennes was at his own 
expense, he -being prompted by his interest in the daring 
enterprise of General Clark and his handful of brave Ken- 
tucky backwoodsmen, as well as by his hatred of the British. 
He demanded to be released, claiming Spanish citizenship, 
but Hamilton only replied by threatening to put him in 
irons. Finally Father Gibault, at the head of a large dele- 
gation of the settlers, waited on Hamilton and threatened to 
withhold any further supplies from the garrison if Vigo were 
not released. So, exacting of Vigo an oath '' that while on 
his way to St. Louis he would do no act of hostility to the 
British," Hamilton let him go. In compan}^ with two com- 
panions Vigo started at once by canoe via the Wabash, the 
Ohio, and the Mississippi rivers for his home at St. Louis. 
Arriving at that city he stayed long enough to change his 
clothing, and immediately reembarked for Kaskaskia to 
report events to General Clark. He had kept the strict 
letter of his oath to do no act of hostility against the British 
^' while on his way " to St. Louis. 

Clark's Dilemma; the March upon Vincennes. General 
Clark was now face to face with a despei^ate dilemma. It 
was the dead of winter, and the term of enlistment of his 
men would soon expire. He was cut off from all means of 
communication with the government, and from hope of 
succor from any source. To secure reenforcements was 
impossible, and if he should wait until spring Governor 



-60 THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 

Hamilton very likely would not only be in a position too 
strong to be assailed, but might lead a successful expedition 
against him at Kaskaskia. On the other hand, he shrewdly 
reasoned, Hamilton would hardly expect the Americans to 
make a campaign in the winter time, and would be less vigi- 
lant. So a decision was quickly formed; the men, or most of 
them, were persuaded to reenlist for eight months longer, 
under the stimulus of glowing promises. The places of 
those who declined to reenlist were filled by recruits from 
the French settlers at Kaskaskia, and in a very brief period 
of time one of the most remarkable military campaigns in 
history was under way. The distance to Vincennes by the 
route which must be traveled was more than one hundred 
and sixty miles. But nothing daunted. General Clark and 
his little band of one hundred and seventy heroes made their 
start February 5, 1779. The country was low and flat, and 
overflowed for much of the distance. The men often waded 
for weary miles in water knee-deep, ^ waist-deep, and some- 
times shoulder-deep, holding their guns high above their 
heads to keep them dry. Frequently they were unable even 
to find a dry spot for a camping place at night, and part of 
the time it was so cold that the water was sheeted over with 
ice. To make matters still worse provisions ran low, and 
famine stared the little army in the face. A part of the 
force had been sent ahead by boat (the " Willing ") with 
provisions, and they were to be waiting for the main army 
on the Wabash just below Vincennes; but when the weary, 
hungry, half-drowned, half-famished marchers arrived, the 
provisions had not, and they managed to keep themselves 
alive only through their good fortune in being able to kill 
one wild deer and by robbing an Indian family of the rem- 
nants of another one. After their arrival at the post, and 



THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 61 

before the battle, the friendly settlers brought them provi- 
sions. The supplies sent by boat arrived safel}^ and in good 
condition two days after the battle was over and the fort 
taken. 

Arriving at the Wabash, it was necessary to build boats 
with which to transport the arni}^ across, but a safe passage 
was effected on the 21st of February, and on the 23d the 
army came in sight of the town. That afternoon the sun 
came out and showed his welcome face for the first time in 
twenty days. Human endurance was never more severely 
taxed than in this perilous expedition, and only men of iron 
constitutions and determined purpose could have survived it. 

The Battle; Surrender of Fort Sackville. General Clark 
addressed a letter to the people of Vincennes apprising them 
of his intended attack, and requesting them for their own 
safety, and in the interests of good order, to remain in their 
homes. ^ He was aware of the fact that most if not all of 
them were friendly to the Americans. And it is said that 
while every inhabitant of the town knew the contents of the 
letter in a very short time, not an intimation of Clark's 
presence was carried to the British commander. 

Firing upon the fort (which was called Fort Sackville) 

1 This letter was adtlressed "To the inhabitants of Post Vincennes," 
and read in part: "Gentlemen: Being now within two miles of your village 
with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being willing 
to surprise you, I take this method to recjuest such of you as are true citizens, 
and willing to enjoy the liberty 1 bring you, to remain still in your houses — 
and those, if any there be, that are friends to the King will instantly retire 
to the fort and join the hair-buying General antl figiit like men. . . . Those 
who are true friends of liberty may depend on being well treated; and 1 once 
more request them to keep out of the streets. I'or every one 1 find in arms 
on my arrival, I shall treat him as an enemy." 

By his epithet of " hair-buying General" Clark had reference to tlie fact 
that bounties were being paid by the British for the scalps of American 
citizens. 



62 THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 

began at dark on the 32d day of February, 1779, and was 
kept up until about nine o'clock the next morning, when 
General Clark sent Lieutenant Governor Hamilton a brief 
note which read: ''Sir: In order to save yourself from the 
impending storm that now threatens you, I order you im- 
mediately to surrender yourself, with all your garrison, 
stores, etc. For if I am obliged to storm, 3^ou may depend 
upon the treatment justly due a murderer. Beware of 
destroying stores of any kind, or any papers or letters that 
are in your possession, or hurting one house in town, for by 
heaven, if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you." 

At first there was a refusal to surrender, later a parley, 
and a request for terms, and finally a conference between 
the commanders. Clark at first refused to accept any terms 
other than surrender at discretion, but later modified his 
answer slightly. Hamilton finally acquiesced to such terms 
as Clark was willing to grant. Meanwhile firing upon the 
fort had been resumed with desperate fury. The Ameri- 
cans were in high spirits and eager to storm the fort. 
Their marksmanship was so deadly that the British garri- 
son could not serve their guns. To open a porthole was 
to invite a shower of bullets so true to aim that exposure to 
view by a man in the fort was equivalent to suicide. The 
British soldiers were dispirited and disheartened and wel- 
comed the order of capitulation. 

As the Stars and Stripes were set afloat over the old fort 
at Vincennes, the horizon of the greatest republic of history 
was broadened by the addition of an empire to its domain. ^ 

The day following the capture General Clark sent Captain 
Leonard Helm up the Wabash with a detachment of sixty 

^ The fort was rechristened Fort Patrick Henry, in honor of the governor 
of Virginia who had granted Clark his commission. 



THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 63 

men to intercept a number of British boats from Detroit 
laden with provisions and goods. The expedition was com- 
pletely successful. The boats, seven in number, with cargoes 
worth almost one hundred thousand dollars, were surprised 
and captured without a shot being fired. The prisoners 
taken numbered about forty. 

Clark Takes Possession; "County of Illinois." General 
Clark took possession of the whole country in the name of 
Virginia. The Virginia Assembly in October, 1778, however, 
following the first American occupation under Captain Helm, 
and the capture of Kaskaskia by General Clark, had passed a 
law organizing the vast territory northwest of the Ohio River 
into the County of Illinois. Colonel John Todd was ap- 
pointed County Lieutenant of Illinois, taking charge in May, 
1779, and holding the position until 1782, when he lost his 
life in the battle of Blue Licks, in Kentucky. The organi- 
zation of the County of Illinois expired by limitation in 1781, 
but the officers, including the county judges, continued to 
hold on until they were peremptorily dismissed by General 
Harmar in 1787. 

Indians Grant Land to Clark. After the capture of Vin- 
cennes the Piankashaw Indians made a grant of one hundred 
and fifty thousand acres of land to General Clark, which he 
accepted and parceled out to the men forming his command. 
He retained eight thousand and forty-nine acres for himself, 
and apportioned the rest to his officers and men according 
to rank. The land was in what is now Floyd, Scott, and 
Clark counties, and is still known as ^' Clark's Grant." 

Clark^s Subsequent Career Signalized by Failures; a Vic- 
tim of Ingratitude. Lacking a sufficient force, and equip- 
ment and supplies. General Clark was unable to complete 
his principal program, which now called for the capture of 



64 THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 

Detroit. Instead he returned to Kentucky, and later 
organized and led a successful expedition against hostile 
Indians who were committing depredations around Fort 
Miamis. But an attempt upon his return to organize an 
expedition against Detroit failed. He had contracted habits 
of dissipation that lost him the support and confidence both 
of fellow citizens and officials. But Indian depredations 
breaking out afresh, the state authorized the raising of a 
force of one thousand men to proceed against them, and 
Clark was chosen to command it. He set out with this 
army for Vincennes in September, 1785, but everything 
seemed to go wrong. The provisions were delayed and 
spoiled on the way, and there were constant murmurings 
and complaints among the men. After passing Vincennes 
on their way to the Vermilion River, the soldiers mutinied, 
and three hundred of them deserted in a body. Clark 
returned to Vincennes (1786) with the remainder of the 
force and placed a garrison in charge of Fort Patrick Henry, 
as a measure of protection to the people of Kentucky against 
the Indians. 

He was compelled to procure supplies for the garrison by 
impressment, and for some reason neither Virginia nor the 
government of the United States would ever pay for them, 
and the merchants afterwards sued Clark personally and 
secured judgments against him. These judgments consumed 
much of the land remaining to him from the Indian grants, 
and he lived the rest of his life in retirement and comparative 
poverty. He was much embittered because of the ungener- 
ous treatment accorded him by the state and national 
governments, being unable to perceive in their methods 
any evidences of gratitude for what he had accomplished. 

The story is told that Virginia presented him with a sword 



THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 65 

as a testimonial to liis services in having " wrested so great 
and valuable a territory out of the hands of the British 
enemy," and that he took the sword from the hand of the 
officer making the presentation, snapped the blade in two, 
and, throwing the hilt aside, exclaimed, '' I asked Virginia for 
bread and she gave me a sword." 

He died in comparative obscurity in 1818. 

Gibault and Vigo also Suffer from Government Neglect or 
Ingratitude. Father Gibault, the parish priest who ex- 
tended such valuable aid to General Clark, both at Kaskaskia 
and Vincennes, and was deprived of his pastorate, and some 
say excommunicated, for doing it, and who in a memorial to 
Governor St. Clair asking for reimbursements for expenses 
incurred by him, represented in quaint language that he 
'' had parted with his titles and his beasts " through devotion 
to the cause of patriot Americans, and now needed reim- 
bursement in his old age, also had some cause to doubt the 
gratitude of republics — and states. He was given a small 
lot in Vincennes, and a little tract of land beside, a mere 
trifle as compared to his sacrifices, and even this came in 
his old age, just about the time he was getting ready to die. 

Drafts on Virginia given by Clark to Francis Vigo were not 
paid until ninety-five years afterwards. Vigo was rich when 
he advanced means to aid Clark in his campaign against 
Vincennes, but through misfortunes he afterwards became 
poor. He tried to wait for his promised reimbursement, 
but finally gave it up, and died, at the age of ninety-six 
years. The claim was eventually paid to his heirs by the 
United States government. Vigo County was so named in 
honor of this remarkable man. A monument to his memory, 
erected by patriotic societies, was unveiled at Terre Haute 
in October, 1909. 



66 THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 

Vincennes after the Conquest. We are told that from 
1779 to 1790 the inhabitants of Vincennes, although living 
nominally within the jurisdiction of the United States, had 
very little understanding of the nature of the government 
and were subjected to but few legal restraints. " It seems," 
writes historian John B. Dillon, " that they wished to live 
according to the old French colonial system, under the 
arbitrary control of those who were regarded as the com- 
mandants of the respective posts or villages. Colonel George 
Rogers Clark appointed ' commandants ' when he sub- 
jugated the British authorities at those places, and when 
Colonel John Todd, acting under the authority of the general 
assembly of Virginia, visited Vincennes and Kaskaskia early 
in the summer of 1779, he appointed ' commandants ' and 
several magistrates who were authorized to organize courts 
of civil and criminal jurisdiction." 

The First Court in Indiana; a Reign of Lawlessness at 
Vincennes. The first court in Indiana, formed imder this 
authorization, though the magistrates doubtless were elected 
and not appointed, opened in Vincennes in June, 1779. It 
seems to have concerned itself principally with making 
grants of the lands given to the post in 1742 by the Pianka- 
shaw Indians. Eventually the members grew tired of giving 
the land away to others and decided to divide the residue 
among themselves, " each member absenting himself from 
the court on the day that the order was to be made in his 
favor, so that it might appear to be the act of his fellows 
only." Happily the action of the court in reference to 
these lands was repudiated by Congress. 

In 1783 complaint was made in an official report to the 
Virginia Commissioners of Public Accounts that at Kas- 
kaskia and Vincennes the people were " wholly without law 



THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 67 

or government; that their magistrates, from indolence or 
sinister views, having for some time been relax in the execu- 
tion of their offices, are now altogether without authority; 
that crimes of the greatest enormity may be committed with 
impunity, and a man may be murdered in his own house and 
no person regards it; and, to crown the general confusion, 
that many people have made large purchases of three or four 
hundred leagues, and are endeavoring to have themselves 
established lords of the soil as some have done in Canada." 

A better state of affairs was caused to prevail at Vincennes 
after the visit of Colonel Josiah Harmar in July, 1787. 
Major John F. Hamtramck, of Colonel Harmar's regiment, 
was stationed at Fort Knox as commandant, and from that 
time forward the old lawless days were practically over.^ 

Reprisals against the Spaniards; Conquest of the Lower 
Mississippi Planned. In the latter part of 1786 a number of 
adventurous spirits in the upper Mississippi and Ohio river 
valleys were on the verge of starting a movement that if 
countenanced would have precipitated a war between the 
new government of the United States and Spain. After 
the failure of General George Rogers Clark's Wabash expedi- 
tion in October, 1786, it was decided, as previously related, 
to establish a garrison at Post Vincennes as a measure of 
protection to the people of Kentucky against the Indians. 
To supply this garrison it became necessary to resort to 
impressment, and while levying on the goods of merchants 
under the stern rule of military necessity, some Spanish 
merchants were ruthlessly plundered. Such of their goods 
as could not be used by the military were sold at auction. 
There existed at the time a great deal of ill will toward the 

1 The name of the fort had again been changed. Fort Knox, however, 
was in reality a new structure, erected in 1788. 



68 THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 

Spaniards anyway, as their government was in control of 
the mouth of the Mississippi and was maintaining certain 
restrictions against navigation and trade upon that stream. 
One merchant, attempting to make his way to New Orleans, 
was arrested and his cargo confiscated. As New Orleans 
was the principal and almost only market accessible to this 
region of country, and navigation of the Mississippi the 
only means of reaching it, the seriousness of the situation 
may be judged. Then, to make matters worse, the settlers 
in Kentucky, and the western country generally, were led 
to believe, on account of certain diplomatic correspondence 
becoming public, that a treaty had been concluded with 
Spain whereby the Mississippi was to continue closed to 
American trade for a period of years, and perhaps permanently. 
Hence the retaliatory slogan that if Spaniards would not 
permit trade down the river they should not be suffered to 
trade up the river. This spirit was largely responsible for 
the treatment the Spanish merchants received at Vincennes, 
and as a more serious manifestation of it steps were taken to 
organize a military expedition to expel the Spaniards from 
Natchez and the lower Mississippi and make conquest of 
their country. General George Rogers Clark was looked to 
as the military leader to execute the dangerous project. Both 
the legislature of Virginia and the Congress of the United 
States made emphatic disavowal of the whole matter when 
they learned of it, and took steps to prevent the carrying out 
of the hostile plans. Then it was made known that the sup- 
posed restrictive treaty had not been, and would not be, 
entered into, and the agitation gradually subsided. 



CHAPTER VII 
EARLY JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 

Jurisdictions of France, England, Virginia, and the United 
States; the First Election. The few white people under 
their jurisdiction during the time the French were in control 
of the territory now comprised within the state of Indiana 
(1669-1763) were governed by laws dictated by the home 
government and administered largely through the com- 
mandants of the posts. Subordinate offices under the com- 
mandant were few, and relatively unimportant. 

The real occupancy of the British was of such brief dura- 
tion that no opportunity was given to characterize their 
control. Nominally British control dated from 1763, but 
actual possession was not accomplished until 1777, and 
permanent expulsion by the Americans followed two years 
later. The common law of England was supposed to be 
in force in a limited way, but the government, in reality, 
was a mere personal one by the British commandant, or 
" superintendent," stationed at Vincennes. In an attempt 
to win the sympathy of the French settlers as against the 
Americans during the War for Independence, most of the 
laws and regulations of the old French jurisdiction were 
revived by the British government and the rights of the 
former French subjects guaranteed under them. 

Following the capture of Kaskaskia by General George 
Rogers Clark in 1778, and the occupancy of Vincennes by 
Captain Leonard Helm, both citizens of Virginia, that state 
claimed sovereignty by right of conquest over all the North- 

MooRK, Ind.— 5 GO 



TO JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 

west Territory.^ Her claim was made good by the final 
conquest of Vincennes in 1779 by General Clark. She 
organized the territory under the name of the County of 
Illinois, and appointed Colonel John Todd to govern it under 
the title of County Lieutenant. This vast region comprised 
all the territory later incorporated into the states of Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and the greater 
portion of that part of Minnesota which lies on the eastern 
side of the Mississippi. 

It is not true, as has sometimes been stated, that Virginia 
extended her laws to govern and control the newly acquired 
territory. What she did do was to declare in the act or- 
ganizing the '^ County of Illinois " that " all civil officers 
to which the said inhabitants have been accustomed, neces- 
sary for the preservation of peace and the administration 
of justice, shall be chosen by a majority of the citizens in their 
respective districts . . . which said civil officers, after taking 
the oath (of allegiance) . . . shall exercise their several 
jurisdictions, and conduct themselves agreeable to the laws 
which the present settlers are now accustomed to." 

This was literally a revival and continuation of the French 
system of laws and administration, except that the officers 
were made elective. And the election which took place in 
accordance with the act, soon after its promulgation, was 
the first popular election ever held in Indiana. No provision 
was made in the act for government beyond the year 1781, 

1 Virginia also claimed the Northwest Territory as a part of her original 
charter domain, granted by tiie king to the London Company in 1609. 
Under this grant Virginia was made to extend two hundred miles north, and 
the same distance south, of Point Comfort, and " west and northwest from 
sea to sea." By the treaty with France in 17G3 Great Britain gave up her 
claim to the territory west of the Mississippi, but Virginia held her title to be 
good to the limit of British sovereignty, which was the eastern bank of the 
Mississippi. 



JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 71 

but the officers elected and commissioned continued to hold 
on until they were dismissed by General Harmar in 1787. 

In 1784 Virginia signed a deed of session of the Northwest 
Territory to the government of the United States.^ From 
the date of this session to the passage by Congress of the 
Ordinance of 1787 there was no authorized or legal control 
of any kind over the territory. 

Ordinance of 1787 ; Machinery of Territorial Government. 
The Ordinance of 1787, the great charter of the states of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan, was an act 
of Congress providing for the government of the Northwest 
Territory.- It provided for the appointment by Congress 
of a governor, whose term of office should be three years; 
of a secretary, whose term should be four years, and of a 
court, to consist of three judges with common-law jurisdic- 
tion and tenure of office lasting during good behavior. 

The governor and judges, or a majority of them, were 
empowered to adopt and publish '' such laws of the original 
states, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best 
suited to the circumstances of the district " until the organi- 
zation of a general assembly, to which would then belong the 
law-making power. A general assembly was authorized 
when the number of free male inhabitants in the district 
should reach five thousand. There was to be one repre- 
sentative elected for every five hundred free male inhabitants, 
until the population should so increase as to bring the num- 

. 1 The deed of session was signed by Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, 
Arthur Lee, and James Monroe, acting as delegates for the Commonwealth 
of Virginia. It will be noted that two of these, Jefferson and Monroe, after- 
wards attained to the honor of the presidency. 

2 This ordinance has appropriately been called the " Magna Charta of 
the West." Daniel Webster said of it: "I doubt whether one single law 
of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, 
marked, and lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787." 



72 JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 

ber of representatives up to twenty-five. After that the 
number and proportion of representatives were to be regu- 
lated by the legislature. The term of office fixed for a repre- 
sentative was two years. 

A legislative council, consisting of five members, to be 
appointed by Congress, with a five-year tenure of office, was 
provided for. The five members of the council were to be 
chosen from a list of ten names to be submitted to Congress 
by the governor and house of representatives, after the 
election of that body. The governor, the legislative council, 
and the house of representatives were then to compose the 
general assembly, or territorial legislature. The legisla- 
tive council and house of representatives, acting together 
in joint assembly, were empowered to elect a delegate to 
Congress. 

It will be noted that only members of the house of repre- 
sentatives were elective by the people. A man to be entitled 
to vote for a representative was required, in addition to the 
possession of citizenship and residence qualifications, to own 
a freehold in fifty acres of land. Only freeholders were 
eligible to election or appointment to any of the offices 
under the territorial government. 

Articles of Compact. The ordinance further contained 
six articles of compact between the original states and the 
people and states in the new territory, the preamble to which 
reads: " And for extending the fundamental principles of 
civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these 
republics, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix 
and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, con- 
stitutions and governments, which forever hereafter shall 
be formed in the said territory; to provide also for the estab- 
lishment of states, and permanent government therein, and 



JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 73 

for their admission to a share in the federal councils on an 
equal footing with the original states, at as early periods as 
may be consistent with the general interest: It is hereby 
ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, that the 
following articles shall be considered as articles of compact 
between the original states and the people and states in the 
said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by 
common consent." 

Article I of this compact guarantees religious liberty; 
Article II is the bill or guarantee of civil rights; Article III 
reads in part: " Religion, morality and knowledge being 
necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, 
schools, and the means of education shall forever be en- 
couraged." The rest of this article is a guarantee of good 
faith and fair treatment toward the Indians. Article IV 
deals with the obligations of the Mates toward the Con- 
federacy or Union, as to its perpetuity, inviolability, support 
by taxation, etc., and provides that all navigable waters 
shall be common highways and forever free. Article V 
provides for the formation of not less than three and no more 
than five states from the territory covered by the ordinance, 
and their eventual admission into the Union. Article VI 
ranks with Article III in its illustration of the wise and far- 
seeing statesmanship which produced the ordinance. It 
reads in part: " There shall be neither slavery nor involun- 
tary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the 
punishment of crime, whereof the parties shall have been 
duly convicted." 

Arthur St. Clair Made Governor of Northwest Territory 
(1787-1800). On the 5th of October, 1787, Major General 
Arthur St. Clair was appointed by Congress to be governor 
of the Northwest Territory, and Winthrop Sargeant was 



74 JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 

made secretary. Marietta, Ohio, became the seat of gov- 
ernment, and the first sessions of the territorial court were 
held there in 1788. The judges comprising the court were 
Samuel H. Parsons, James M. Varnum, and John Cleves 
Symmes. Under the terms of the ordinance. Governor St. 
Clair was president of the court. A session of this court 
was held at Vincennes in 1790, and by an act of the legis- 
lature of that year, regulating the same, a sitting of the 
court was designated for Vincennes annually thereafter. 

Meanwhile immigration to the territory had begun to 
grow rapidly, settlers flocking in from Virginia, Kentucky, 
the Carolinas, and the New England states, and in 1798 the 
population having grown to the required five thousand, the 
second step in the perfecting of the territorial government 
was taken. An election was held on the third Monday in 
December of that year ior members of the house of repre- 
sentatives for the first general assembly. The members 
so elected, and the governor, met at Cincinnati on the 22d of 
January, 1799 (the seat of government having been removed 
to Cincinnati from Marietta), and forwarded to Congress a 
list of names of ten citizens from which to select the five 
members of the first legislative council. The appointments 
being made, the first territorial legislature, or general 
assembly, was complete, and it held its first session at 
Cincinnati in September, 1799. 

Among the important measures enacted by this first 
legislature were laws to prevent drunkenness, profane 
swearing, Sabbath breaking, dueling, cock fighting, running 
horses on public highways, gambling, etc. The whipping 
post and pillory as methods of punishment were established. 

It fell to the duty of this legislature to elect a delegate 
to Congress, and the members found themselves called upon 



JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 75 



to decide a very spirited contest for the honor between 
Arthur St. Clair, Jr., a son of Governor St. Clair, and Captain 
William Henry Harrison, then secretary of the territory. 
Harrison had been appointed to succeed Winthrop Sargeant, 
Sargeant having resigned to become Governor of Mississippi. 
Harrison was the victor, winning by the narrow margin of 
one vote. 

Division of the Northwest Territory ; William Henry 
Harrison First Governor of Indiana Territory (1800-1812). 
The political existence 
of the Northwest 
Territor}^ as a whole 
was comparatively 
short (1787-1800). 
On the 7th of May, 
1800, the President 
approved an act of 
Congress dividing the 
territory into two 
parts, the division be- 
ing on the boundary 
line now dividing 
Ohio and Indiana. 
All that portion of the 
original territory west 
of the said line was 
constituted into a 
separate territory to 
be designated as 

Indiana Territory. This made it necessary for the people of 
Indiana Territory to begin all over again in the formation 
of a new government under the Ordinance of 1787. Accord- 




WiLLiAM Henry Harrison 



76 JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 

ingly, William Henry Harrison was appointed governor 
(May 13, 1800), and John Gibson of Pennsylvania, secretary.^ 
The seat of government was fixed at Vincennes. The first 
territorial judges appointed for Indiana were William Clark, 
Henry Vanderburg, and John Griffin. They opened the 
first general court at Vincennes on the 3d of March, 
1801. The judges and the governor had held a meeting 
in the January preceding for the purpose of publishing such 
laws " of the original states " as were deemed necessary 
until a legislature should be formed. 

At this time the white population of Indiana Territory was 
estimated at four thousand eight hundred and seventy-five. 

In March, 1804, Congress enlarged the area of Indiana 
by attaching to it all that part of Louisiana Territory situ- 
ated west of the Mississippi and north of the thirty-third 
degree, north latitude, under the name of the " District of 
Louisiana." The following year, however, it was detached 
and made a separate territory. 

Election of Legislature; Indiana Territory Reduced to 
Present Size of the State by Detachment and Organization 
of Michigan and Illinois. On January 3, 1805, an election 
was held upon the call of Governor Harrison to elect mem- 
bers of the house of representatives, a determination having 
been reached (September 11, 1804, by a majority of 138) 
to enter upon the second stage of territorial civil government. 
The members elected met with the governor at Vincennes 
on the 1st of February, and on the 7th selected ten names 

1 General Gibson performed the duties of governor from the date of 
his appointment, May 14, 1800, until January 10, 1801, Governor Harrison 
not arriving in the territory until that time. Again, in 1812 and 1813 he 
was called upon to serve as acting governor, his chief being in charge of the 
u western armies of the United States. It was General Gibson to whom Chief 
Logan made his celebrated speech in 1774. 



JURISDICTIONS AND TKRHITOHIAL (GOVERNMENT 77 

from which the President, under authority of Congress, 
chose the five members of a legislative council. The general 
assembly thus completed convened at Vincennes on the 
29th of July, 1805. Benjamin Parke, lately emigrated from 
Virginia, was elected the first delegate to Congress. He was 
later appointed by the President to a territorial judgeship, 
and Jesse B. Thomas was chosen by the legislature (1808) 
to succeed him in Congress. 

On the 11th of January, 1805, only a few days after the 
election to choose members of the legislature, Congress 
passed an act dividing the territory again, detaching and 
organizing the territory of Michigan. The act became 
effective June 30, 1805. The next change in boundaries 
took place on the 1st of May, 1809, when all that portion 
remaining of Indiana Territory lying west of what is now the 
Indiana-Illinois state line, was detached and organized into 
the territory of Illinois. (Act of Congress, February 3, 
1809.) With this division, which was the last, Indiana was 
reduced to its present size. 

Election Tangle; Legislature Declared Illegal. In the 
same act by which Congress reduced the size of Indiana by 
organizing Illinois Territory, it authorized the redistricting 
of Indiana for legislative purposes, and provided that the 
house of representatives should consist of not less than 
nine members. Prior to this action Governor Harrison had 
already called an election for representatives, fixing eight 
as the number to be chosen. The date of the election was 
May 22. When the legislature so elected convened in 
October, a question of its legality at once arose, and after 
several days of wrangling. Congress was finally memorialized 
by the legislature to straighten out the tangle. That body 
declared the election illegal, and directed the governor to 



78 JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 

apportion the territory for nine representatives and order & 
new election, which he did. 

Extending the Franchise; the First Census. In 1809 
Congress passed laws making members of the legislative 
council and the delegate to Congress elective by the quali- 
fied voters of the territory. Jonathan Jennings, running 
on an antislavery platform, was the first delegate chosen 
by the new method. Thomas Randolph, on a proslavery 
platform, was the unsuccessful candidate against him. 

In 1811 the property qualifications for voters were 
abolished, and the right to vote was extended to every free 
white male person twenty-one years old or over who had 
paid a county or territorial tax and had been a resident a 
year. In 1814 the voting privilege was further extended to 
every free white male having a freehold in the territory and 
being a resident thereof. 

In 1810 the first complete census of Indiana Territory was 
taken, and it showed the population to be 24,520. Statistics 
of manufactures gathered at the same time showed that 
there were in the territory thirty-three gristmills, fourteen 
sawmills, three horse mills, eighteen tanneries, twenty-eight 
distilleries, three powder mills, one thousand two hundred 
fifty-six looms and one thousand three hundred fifty spin- 
ning wheels. Total value of manufactures, as reported to 
the United States Treasury Department, $196,532. 

Thomas Posey Becomes Second and Last Territorial 
Governor (1813-1816); Seat of Government Changed from 
Vincennes to Corydon; New State House. In 1813 the 
President appointed Thomas Posey governor of the territory, 
to succeed Governor Harrison, who had been made com- 
mander-in-chief of the federal forces in the west. Mr. 
Posey was serving as a senator from Louisiana at the time 



JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT Ty 

of his appointment. He was a native of Virginia, and had 
won distinction as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He 
continued to serve as governor until the territory was ad- 
mitted into the Union as a state in 1816. 

In the year 1811 it was determined to change the capital 
of the territory from Vincennes to Corydon, in Harrison 
County, and the construction of a new State House was 
immediately begun. The first session of the legislature to 
convene therein was that of 1813, although the structure 
was not entirely completed until two years later. 

The material entering into the construction of the new 
Statehouse was native blue limestone taken from the 
neighboring hills. The building still stands. It is two 
stories high and forty feet square. The lower story was 
used as the hall of the house of representatives, while the 
legislative council, and later the senate, held its sessions 
in one of the two rooms of the second story. 

Preparations for Statehood; Adoption of Constitution of 
1816; First State Officers Elected. On the 14th of Decem- 
ber, 1813, the territorial legislature adopted a resolution 
memorializing Congress to admit Indiana into the Union as 
a state. And as there had been considerable agitation up 
to that time in favor of the abrogation or suspension of the 
sixth article of the compact in the Ordinance of 1787 
prohibiting slavery, the legislature incorporated the follow- 
ing in its memorial: ''And whereas, the inhabitants of this 
territory are principally composed of immigrants from every 
part of the Union, and as various in their customs and 
sentiments as in their persons, we think it prudent at this 
time to express to the general government our attachment 
to the fundamental principles of legislation prescribed by 
Congress in their Ordinance for the government of this 



80 JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 

territory, particularly as respects freedom and involuntary 
servitude, and hope they may be continued as the basis of 
the constitution." 

In 1815 a census was taken by order of the legislature, and 
it showed a voting population in the territory of 12,112, and 
a total population of 63,897, indicating an increase of 39,377, 
equal to 161 per cent, in five years. 

On the 19th of April, 1816, Congress passed an enabling 
act authorizing the calling of an election to choose delegates 
to a convention to frame a state constitution. The election 
was held on the 13th of May, and the convention met at 
Corydon, and began its deliberations on the 10th of June, 
1816. The delegates numbered forty-two. Jonathan Jen- 
nings was chosen president of the convention, and William 
Hendricks, secretary. 

Most of the sessions of the convention were held under 
the wide-spreading branches of a large elm tree which 
stands near the Corydon Statehouse. It is known as 
Constitutional Elm, and is an object of patriotic interest 
and curiosity to many hundreds of visitors annually. 

The members of the convention proved themselves an 
exceptionally able and businesslike body of men. They 
were in session but nineteen days, during which time they 
framed for the new state a constitution, clear and concise 
in language, and wise in its provisions, which " was not 
inferior to any of the state constitutions which were in exist- 
ence at that time.''^ It met with the approval of Congress, 

1 The spread of branches of Constitutional Ehn is 146 feet. It is 
60 feet high, and its trunk measures 8 feet in diameter a foot above ground. 
A retaining wall has been built to prevent the washing of the soil from its 
roots, and patriotic and highly praiseworthy efforts are being put forth by 
citizens of Corydon to protect and preserve the life of this historic old tree 
as long as possible. 

2 Dillon. 



JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 81 

and Indiana was admitted into the great family of states on 
the nth of December, 1816. 

Although the state was not formally admitted until 
December 11, 1816, the first election under the new con- 
stitution was held on the first Monday of the August pre- 
ceding. It resulted in the choice of Jonathan Jennings 
for governor, Christopher Harrison, lieutenant governor, 
and William Hendricks, member of Congress. Jennings 




Constitutional Elm 



was the delegate in Congress at the time of his election 
to the governorship. His opponent in the race for governor 
was Thomas Posey, then territorial governor. The vote 
stood 5211 for Jennings and 3934 for Posey. By the con- 
stitution, as adopted, the other state officers were elective by 
the legislature. 

First Session- of State Legislature; Additional State 
Officers Chosen. The first session of the legislature of 



82 JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 

Indiana as a full-fledged state convened at Corydon on the 
4th of November, 1816. Isaac Blackford was elected speaker 
of the house of representatives, Christopher Harrison being 
president of the senate by virtue of his office as lieutenant 
governor. The governor and lieutenant governor were 
inaugurated on the 7th. During the session the following 
additional officers were chosen, completing the new state 
government: Robert A. New, secretary of state; William H. 
Lilly, auditor of public accounts; Daniel G. Lane, treasurer 
of state. James Noble and Waller Taylor were elected to 
represent the new state in the United States Senate. 

Under the constitution of 1816 the terms of office of the 
different state officers and members of the legislature were: 
governor and lieutenant governor, three years; secretary 
of state, auditor of public accounts, and treasurer of state, 
four years; state senators, three years; and representatives, 
one year. Sessions of the legislature were held annually. 

In earnest devotion to the interests of the new common- 
wealth, and of the people, and in the conscientious and 
prompt performance of their official duties, the members of 
the constitutional convention, and of this first legislature, 
set an example worthy of the emulation of their successors 
in much later times, called upon to adminster to the needs of 
a state grown vastly greater and grander, and largely so 
because of the correct foundation principles implanted in its 
first constitution, and in its early laws. 

Early Taxation; Progress of the New State. During the 
first several years of statehood, state revenues were raised 
by a graduated land tax. This tax in 1817, based on the 
one hundred acres, was one dollar on first-rate land, eighty- 
seven and one half cents on second-rate land, and fifty cents 
on third-rate land. An additional tax was also imposed 



JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 83 

for county purposes, so the burden on landowners was not 
light. Other objects of local taxation were live stock, 
carriages, watches, clocks, etc., and then there was a poll 
tax, and a license tax on venders of merchandise. Naturally 
complaints because of tax burdens were not unknown. In 
fact, the successive steps in territorial government, and 
finally the exaltation of the territory to statehood, were 
confronted with opposition by some on the grounds that 
taxation would be increased. In August, 1807, a number 
of the French inhabitants of the territory, which more than 
two years before had been raised to the second grade of 
government, met and resolved that they " would withdraw 
their confidence and support forever from those men who 
advocated, or in any manner promoted, the second grade of 
government." But with the development of the almost 
inexhaustible natural resources of the state, and the multi- 
plication and increase in value of the objects of taxation, 
the burdens became relatively lighter. 

From the very first, progress of the new state along all 
lines was highly satisfactory. The population grew rapidly, 
forests were cleared, swamps were drained, roads built, 
homes established, industries founded, commerce extended, 
schools opened, churches built, towns and cities laid out, and 
local government extended and perfected. 

The Thirteen Original Counties. As the responsibilities 
of a national government were first assumed by the thirteen 
original states, so the responsibilities of Indiana's state 
government were assumed by the " thirteen original coun- 
ties " — that being the number of organized counties par- 
ticipating in the framing and adoption of the constitution 
of 1816. All were southern counties, mainly bordering the 
Ohio and lower Wabash rivers. They were: Knox, Posey, 



84 JURISDICTIONS AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 

Gibson, Warrick, Perry, Washington, Harrison, Clark, Jeffer- 
son, Switzerland, Dearborn, Franklin, Wayne, — Wayne 
being the most northerly. There were but four organized 
counties in 1809 when the first popular election for delegates 
to Congress was held. These were Knox, Harrison, Clark, 
and Dearborn. 

More than three fourths of the territory of the state was 
still held by the Indians at the time of the adoption of the 
constitution. 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE SLAVERY QUESTION 

Curious Contradictions in Ordinance of 1787. Mr. J. P. 

Dunn, in his admirable treatise on the subject, " A Re- 
demption from Slavery, " makes it clear that the slavery 
question was the '' paramount political influence in Indiana 
up to the time of the organization of the state govermnent." 
Nor did it by any means disappear from the arena of politics 
then. For more than three quarters of a century following 
the formation of the American' Union slavery was a domi- 
nating influence affecting or deciding the aligmnent of 
political parties. A mere local adjustment, or nominal 
settlement, could by no means remove the question from 
discussion in Indiana; it was alive here as long as it was in 
politics, and when the war came no state in the North, or 
even on the border, was more violently torn by the clash of 
ideas so long fostered. 

At the time of the adoption of the Ordinance of 1787 
approximately two hundred persons were being held to 
bondage in what is now Indiana. As slavery was prohibited 
by the ordinance, many of these were taken out of the 
territory b}' their owners, who emigrated to the Spanish 
possessions, or other places where slaveholding was not 
illegal. Others remained, and continued to hold their 
human chattels, claiming a legal right to do so on grounds 
that were more than plausible. First, in the deed of cession 
by which Virginia conveyed the Northwest Territory to the 
United States, there was a provision ''that the French and 

MoouE, Ind. — 6 85 



86 THE SLAVERY QUESTION 

Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers . . . who have 
professed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have their 
possessions and titles confirmed to them, and be protected 
in the enjoyment of their rights and liberties." Negro 
slavery was an essential part of the " possessions and titles " 
here reserved to the settlers by Virginia, and guaranteed to 
them by the United States in its acceptance of the grant. 

Then the Ordinance of 1787, in the endeavor to keep faith 
with Virginia, and at the same time prohibit slavery in the 
Northwest Territory, was rendered contradictory in its 
terms. The sixth article of the compact reads: " There 
shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the 
said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: provided 
always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom 
labor or service is lawfully claimed in any of the original 
states, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and con- 
veyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as 
aforesaid." 

This would indicate an absolute prohibition of slavery in 
the Northwest Territory, with a proviso for the recovery of 
fugitive slaves by owners from outside the territory. But 
among the provisions for conveyance of property there was 
inserted the saving clause '' to the French and Canadian 
inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskia, St. Vincent 
and the neighboring villages who have heretofore professed 
themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now 
in force among them relative to the descent and conveyance 
of property." Then suffrage was restricted to ''free male 
inhabitants," and in estimating or counting population for 
governmental purposes, only " free male inhabitants " were 
permitted. Certainly it would be hard to imagine a broader 



THE SLAVERY QUESTION 87 

implication of an existing and continuing distinction as to 
free men and slaves. 

So it is plain enough that those whose interests inclined 
them to favor slavery were not w^anting in arguments up- 
holding its technical legality. Curiously enough no case 
ever reached the higher courts of the United States fairly 
testing the legality of slaveholding in the Northwest Territory 
after the passage of the Ordinance of 1787. Of course there 
could be no doubt of the abrogation in the Constitution of 
Indiana, adopted in 1816, of any right of the French or other 
settlers to hold slaves in the state, if such right really was 
saved to them by the ordinance. 

About the most that was claimed, however, was the limited 
right to hold slaves alread}^ in bondage at the time the ordi- 
nance was passed. The abrogation of the restricting clause 
was desired in order that the importation of additional slaves 
might be permitted. And under certain laws of indenture 
passed by the territorial legislature some slaves were im- 
ported, and a modified form of slavery legalized and openly 
practiced. Under this legislation negroes might be imported 
and held in absolute slavery for sixty daj^s, and thereafter 
in limited slavery for a term of years, or for life. 

Agitation for Slavery. In 1802 a convention was held at 
Vincennes, at which a length}^ set of resolutions was pre- 
pared and forwarded to Congress asking that the sixth 
article of the compact in the ordinance be suspended for 
ten years, on the grounds that the slaves were needed to 
develop the new country, and American citizens who could 
ill be spared were being driven to the Spanish dominions 
because of their slave holdings. This convention was com- 
posed of delegates regularly apportioned among the counties, 
and Governor Harrison presided over its sessions. 



88 THE SLAVERY QUESTION 

The territorial legislature of 1805 requested the repeal of 
the restricting clause, or at any rate a memorial signed by 
three members of the legislative council, and by the speaker 
and three members of the house of representatives, was 
forwarded to Congress. The legislature of 1807 also 
memorialized Congress in the interests of slavery. 

Congress took no action in the matter, although the agita- 
tion compelled attention and many members were sym- 
pathetic. A timely counter agitation was started in 1807, 
however, when a meeting of citizens opposed to slavery met 
at Springville, on the 10th of October, and framed and for- 
warded a memorial vigorously protesting against the exten- 
sion of slavery, or any violation of the compact in the 
Ordinance of 1787. 

The contest for the election of a delegate to Congress in 
1809 also proved a valuable aid in staying the tide of the 
proslavery crusade, as it indicated a small preponderance of 
public sentiment against it. The fight was between Jona- 
than Jennings, avowedly antislavery, and Thomas Ran- 
dolph, proslavery. Jennings won, and was reelected on 
the same platform in three subsequent biennial elections. 
Still, hope was not abandoned, and the advocates of slavery 
carried the contest to the constitutional convention of 1816, 
where they met their final defeat through the adoption of 
the clause in the constitution: " There shall be neither 
slavery nor involuntary servitude in this state otherwise 
than for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall 
have been duly convicted, nor shall any indenture of any 
negro or mulatto hereafter made and executed out of the 
bounds of this state be of any vahdity within the state." 

But slaves continued to be held, it is said, until 1843, 
when the last one died. According to the returns of the 



THE SLAVERY QUESTION 89 

United States census there were one hundred and ninety 
slaves in the state in 1820, and three in 1840. Of the three 
still held in 1840 two were in Rush County and one in Putnam. 

Question of Recapture of Fugitive Slaves; Underground 
Railroads. The question of the arrest and return of slaves 
escaping from other states and seeking refuge in Indiana 
was a source of special irritation for many years, both to 
those citizens of the state who did not believe in slavery and 
preferred to assist the fugitives to liberty, and to the owners 
of the slaves who claimed the right to pursue and recover 
their " property." So common did the practice become 
of assisting runaway slaves across the state from the Ohio 
River to Canada, that regular routes were established, and 
known as " Underground Railroads." These underground 
railroads had regular stations, principally at the homes of 
men who abominated slavery. Here the fugitives were con- 
cealed and fed. Conveyances also, in many instances, were 
furnished between the stations, travel being mostly by night. 
Many hundreds of slaves were thus piloted across the state 
to the British possessions and freedom. 

The strong sympathy for the institution of slavery evinced 
by a considerable element of the population, both in early 
times and up to and during the war for the Union, is ac- 
counted for by the fact that Indiana was largely peopled by 
immigrants from the southern or slaveholding states. But 
not all of these southern immigrants were proslavery, as 
many of them came for the purpose of finding homes and 
rearing families in " free territory," and to them great credit 
is due for the fact that the antislavery sentiment predomi- 
nated when the crisis came, and threw the great weight of 
Indiana's material help and moral influence upon the side 
of liberty and the Union. 



CHAPTER IX 

INDIAN WARS 

MIAMI conspiracy; the prophet's war; INDIANS AND 
BRITISH IN WAR OF 1812 

Motives for Indian Hostility; Real Fact which Condemns 
the Red Man. The Indian, generally, has been given credit 
for a natural inclination to treachery and cruelty, though it 
cannot be said that his deeds were always lacking in rational 
or even patriotic motive. Time and experience had brought 
him to a bitter realization of the fact that gradually he was 
being dispossessed of his lands. Sometimes they were sold 
by chiefs, or members of his tribe who had no particular 
right to sell; sometimes they went, by treaty that he knew 
nothing about and could not understand, and sometimes 
they were taken by violence. He saw the game driven from 
the forests, and his hunting grounds transformed into culti- 
vated fields that to him were no better than deserts, while 
he and his race were pushed farther and farther westward 
toward the setting sun. When civilized men fight for homes 
and native land, they are patriots. And though the Indian 
fought for the same sacred entities, he, in his ignorance, 
employed methods which not only precluded sympathy, but 
armed the greedy white man with pretexts for employing 
even more heartless severity toward him. Grievous, though 
differing in kind, were the wrongs he suffered. If accounts 
were fairly balanced, we doubt if the white man would find 
that he has any wide margin of cause to remember the past 

with malice toward his red brother. 

90 



INDIAN WARS 91 

The most telling indictment that can be brought against 
the Indian in justification of his banishment is that he failed 
to make adequate use of the priceless gifts with which the 
Great Spirit had endowed him. With his mode of living 
it required, on an average, something like fifty thousand 
acres of land for the support of each individual of his race. 
The fertile lands of the American Continent now furnish 
homes for scores of millions of enlightened, progressive, and 
happy people, as against the few thousands of miserable, 
half-clad, feather-bedecked and roving savages who formerly 
occupied them. The fittest must survive. Left to himself 
under primitive conditions, the Indian seemed proof against 
progress. Should he then, after all, have been spared, and 
allowed to stand forever a barrier against civilization in 
the western world ? On the theory of the greatest good to 
the greatest number the answer inevitably must be in the 
negative. Yet it is sad to contemplate. The events nar- 
rated in this chapter are merely dramatic incidents in the 
process of reduction, impoverishment, and banishment of a 
once proud and haughty race. 

Indians Jealous of Their Kentucky Hunting Grounds. 
A number of expeditions dating from the Revolutionary War 
period and earlier, and repeated from time to time until after 
the organization of the Northwest Territory, were made by 
armed forces from Kentucky into the wildernesses of Indiana 
and Ohio to punish hostile Indians for murderous raids upon 
Kentucky settlers. Some of them were successful, and some 
came to grief. The Indians regarded Kentucky as a kind 
of common hunting ground, and they resolutely resisted its 
occupation by the whites. They guarded the Ohio River 
almost night and day, and many outrages were committed 
upon immigrants or tradesmen on the bosom of that stream, 
and upon the settlers near its shores. 



92 INDIAN WARS 



THE MIAMI CONSPIRACY 

Causes for Friction. From the time of General George 
Rogers Clark's last expedition to the Wabash country 
against the Indians in 1786 it was apparent that serious 
trouble was brewing. A persistent agitation was carried on 
among the Indians, and British influences were exerted 
to the utmost to fan the disaffection into angry flames of 
war. The efforts of Congress to extinguish the claims of 
the Indians to the lands northwest of the Ohio River added 
to the causes for distrust and friction, and the situation was 
daily aggravated by the encroachments of white settlers on 
the lands belonging to, or claimed by, the Indians. 

Harmar's Expedition Fails; Hardin Twice Defeated. By 
1790 the situation had become such that decisive action on 
the part of the government seemed imperative. Accordingly 
General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Terri- 
tory, was ordered to prepare a large force and send it to the 
Indian country. Soon afterwards General Josiah Harmar, with 
a force consisting of about 400 regulars and 1050 militia, was 
dispatched directly to the Indian village of Kekionga, near 
where the city of Fort Wayne now stands, but found it had 
been deserted. This was October 15, 1790. On the 16th 
he sent out a force under Colonel John Hardin, consisting 
of thirty regulars and about two hundred militia. On the 
19th this force was attacked by a large body of Miami 
Indians under Chief Little Turtle and utterly routed. The 
battle occurred near the Eel River, about eleven miles from 
the present site of Fort Wayne. Hardin's loss was twenty 
regulars and six militiamen killed, and many others wounded. 
He rejoined General Harmar and a retreat was begun toward 
Fort Washington on the 21st. 



INDIAN WARS 93 

Chagrined by his defeat and anxious to regain his reputa- 
tion as an Indian fighter, Colonel Hardin persuaded General 
Harmar to permit him to try again. So at the head of sixty 
regulars and three hundred and forty militia, though made 
subordinate in command to Major Wyllys, he defiantly 
marched back to the scene of his defeat. The little army 
reached the Maumee near Kekionga early on the morning 
of the 22d. As on the former expedition, the grave error of 
dividing the force was committed, and the militia were sent 
to pursue a party of Indians, apparently in retreat. The 
militia were thus drawn into an ambush, and assailed by 
superior numbers. Meanwhile Little Turtle furiously at- 
tacked the regulars. The loss this time was several officers, 
including Major Wyllys, and over a hundred and fifty 
men killed. Colonel Hardin again led the retreat. The 
Indians suffered an equal loss with their antagonists in this 
engagement, however, and did not offer pursuit. 

Gathering together the remaining fragments of the army, 
General Harmar took up the march for Fort Washington (on 
the site of the present city of Cincinnati) October 23, 
arriving November 4. The total loss of the army in the 
expedition was one hundred and eighty-three men killed and 
thirty-one wounded. 

Minor Operations. While these events were taking place 
on the Maumee, Major Hamtramck, commandant of the 
post at Vincennes, led a small force against the Indians on 
the Vermilion River and destroyed several villages, but 
encountered no serious opposition. 

A force of about eight hundred men, under command of 
Brigadier General Scott, crossed the Ohio from Kentucky in 
May, 1791, and advancing to the Wabash destroyed Ouiate- 
non and surrounding Indian villages. 



94 INDIAN WARS 

Brigadier General Wilkinson, sent out by Governor St. 
Clair in July, 1791, with about five hundred men, won some 
successes against the Indians on the upper Wabash. The 
chief town of the Ouiatenon nation on the Eel River and a 
Kickapoo village were destroyed. 

General St. Clair Takes the Field; His Disastrous De- 
feat. The Indians were jubilant over their victories on the 
Maumee, and the war spirit grew. Depredations became 
more frequent, and the seriousness of the situation was fully 
realized by the government. Accordingly a force consisting 
of about three thousand troops was raised and Governor 
St. Clair ordered to take the field in person. His principal 
instruction was to establish a strong and permanent military 
post at the Miami village (Kekionga) on the Maumee, and 
garrison it with an adequate force. 

Meanwhile the Potawatamis, Kickapoos. Delawares, 
Ottawas, Wyandotts, and Shawnees had joined their for- 
tunes with the Miamis in their coming great struggle for the 
expulsion of the whites. They had about fourteen hundred 
warriors. 

General St. Clair, leading a force of about fifteen hundred 
men, reached the headwaters of the Wabash at the point 
where Fort Recovery was later erected, on the 3d of Novem- 
ber, 1791. On the morning of the 4th, just before day, the 
Indians attacked him. It seems that so prompt an accept- 
ance of the challenge implied by his presence in the Indian 
country was not expected by St. Clair. In other words, it 
merely proved another version of the oft-repeated story of 
Indian surprises. The troops tried to form and resist the 
attack, and finally did push their assailants back by a bayo- 
net charge, but one assault was promptly followed by another 
until the troops were completely overwhelmed. A retreat 



IXDIAX WARS 95 

was begun, which quickly degenerated into a rout. Almost 
half the army had fallen, and the rest was in hopeless panic. 
This demoralized remnant reached Fort Jefferson, thirty 
miles to the south, late that da}', and another disaster was 
completed, and ready to be written in the record. St. Clair's 
loss was thirty-nine officers and five hundred and ninet}'- 
three men killed and missing, and half as many more wounded. 
]\Iore than one hundred women, being wives of the officers 
and men, had accompanied the expedition, and very few of 
them escaped the dreadful carnage of the battle and the 
retreat.^ 

The battle occurred in the southwestern corner of what 
is now Mercer County, Ohio, close by the Indiana line. 
Little Turtle was in chief command of the Indians, but he 
had al^le assistance from such celebrated chiefs as Tecumseh 
and Blue-Jacket, Shawnees, and Buck-ong-a-helas, of the 
Delawares. Tecumseh had personal charge of the Indian 
scouts, and no movement of his pale-faced antagonists was 
ever allowed to escape his sleepless vigilance. 

The most appalling acts of brutality and cruelty were 
perpetrated by the Indians after this battle. Reproaching 
them with the charge that they sought land only, they 
crammed clay and sand down the throats of the dying and 
the dead. 

General Wayne Assumes Command; a Fruitless Peace 
Commission; Battle of Fallen Timbers. A force of five 
thousand men was now assigned to the duty of accomplish- 
ing the mission which Harmar and St. Clair had failed to 
perform, and General Anthony Wayne was summoned to 

^ Congress enacted a law in May, 1910, appropriating S25,000 for the 
erection, at Fort Recovery, of a .suitable monument to the memory of 
the soldiers who lost their lives in this cruel struggle. 



96 INDIAX WARS 

the command. There was some delay in launching the 
expedition, because of a fruitless attempt to treat with the 
Indians through a peace commission consisting of Benjamin 
Lincoln, Beverly Randolph, and Timothy Pickering. They 
found the Indians flushed with their victories and intent 
upon further resistance. They were met with the contention 
that all the land lying northwest of the Ohio River belonged 
exclusively to the Indians, and that in case they chose to 
dispose of it, they had a right to sell to whom they pleased, 
regardless of whether the purchasers were Americans, Brit- 
ish, or of other nationalities. Of course such claims could not 
be countenanced, and the negotiations came to an end. 

The attitude of the Indians was due very largely to mali- 
cious interference on the part of the British, who continued 
to maintain garrisons at Niagara, Detroit, Michilimacinac, 
and other places on American soil in contravention of the 
terms of the treaty of 1783. ^ They not only persisted in 
inciting the Indians to warfare against the Americans, but 
supplied them with means to carry on hostilities. ^lany 
British soldiers fought side by side with the Indians, es- 
pecially at Fallen Timbers. 

At the head of three thousand soldiers, two thousand of 
whom were regulars. General Wayne moved out from Fort 
Washington early in October, 1793. Arriving at the scene 
of St. Clair's defeat, he erected a fort and called it Fort 
Recovery. Here he was attacked on the 30th of June, 

1 The fourth article in the treaty of 1783. by which the Revolutionary 
War was terminated, provided that " No lawful impediments " to the collec- 
tion of debts should be met with by creditors on either side. The British 
government charged that this article was not being fairly observed by many 
American debtors to British subjects, and that some of the states, soon after 
the conclusion of the treaty, had passed laws openly designed to impede the 
collection of such debts. The garrisons were not withdrawn until a new 
treaty was signed in 1796. 



INDIAN WARS 97 

1794, by about fifteen hundred Indians and a few British 
and Canadians, but they were easily repulsed. In July, 
General Wayne was reenforced by sixteen hundred mounted 
volunteers under Major General Scott. On the 4th of August 
he moved out with his main force and, marching to the con- 
fluence of the Maumee and Auglaize rivers, where Defiance, 
Ohio, now stands, erected Fort Defiance. All of this time 
the Indians had sought in vain an opportunity to make a 
surprise attack, but were baffled by the vigilant watchful- 
ness of their new adversaries. Little Turtle referred to 
General Wayne as the " Man-who-never-sleeps," and realiz- 
ing that Indian successes were at an end, counseled peace. 
Unfortunately for the Indians he was overruled by the other 
chiefs and braves. 

Finally, despairing of an opportunity to surprise the 
Americans under such a leader, the Indians, on the 20th of 
August, launched their attack. The battle occurred at a 
place called Fallen Timbers, near the rapids of the Maumee, 
and almost under the guns of the British fort at that place. 
The engagement was fierce though decisive, the Indians and 
their British allies being defeated with frightful loss. The 
number of Americans actually engaged was somewhat less 
than a thousand, while the enemy numbered close to two 
thousand. With this defeat the power of the Indians was 
effectually broken. 

Proceeding thence to the head of the Maumee, General 
Wayne began the erection of the fort which had been the 
main object of St. Clair's expechtion as well as his own. 
The fort was completed November 22, 1794, and garrisoned 
by a strong detachment of infantry and artillery under 
command of Major John F. Hamtramck, who called it 
Fort Wayne. 



98 INDIAN WARS 

Treaty of Greenville; Indians Still Own Nearly All of 
Indiana; Immigration. The Indians met General Wayne 
at Greenville, Ohio, to arrange terms of peace. The con- 
vention lasted from June 16 to August 3, 1795, when a 
treaty was formally signed. This treaty gave to the Indians 
all the land within the present limits of Indiana, with the 
following exceptions: (1) One tract of land six miles square 
at the confluence of the rivers St. Mary and St. Joseph, 
where the city of Fort Wayne now stands; (2) one tract 
two miles square on the Wabash River near the head of the 
Maumee, about eight miles westward from Fort Wayne; 

(3) a tract six miles square at Ouiatenon, on the Wabash; 

(4) a tract of one hundred and fifty thousand acres near 
the Falls of the Ohio, being the lands granted to General 
George Rogers Clark by the Indians soon after the conquest 
of Vincennes; (5) the site of Vincennes and the lands adja- 
cent, to which Indian titles had been extinguished, and all 
similar lands at other places in possession of white settlers; 
(6) the strip of land lying east of a line running directly 
from the site of Fort Recovery so as to intersect with the 
Ohio River at a point opposite to the mouth of the Kentucky 
River. 

Following the treaty of Greenville, a heavy tide of immi- 
gration to the Northwest Territory set in from the eastern 
states, and the impetus to growth in population was not 
again checked until the new Indian outbreaks immediately 
preceding the War of 1812. 

THE prophet's WAR 

Causes Leading to Conflict ; Tecumseh and Pemsquatawah. 

The next serious trouble was fomented by Tecumseh, the 
celebrated chief of the Shawnees, and his brother, Pems- 



INDIAN WARS 99 

quatawah, also a chief of much renown. Pemsquatawah 
was known as the '^ Prophet," because of rehgious preten- 
sions made by him to his people. 

Agitation among the Indians began as early as 1805-06, 
and the white settlers were advised to take precautions for 
their safety. Meanwhile General William Henry Harrison, 
then territorial governor of Indiana, put forth every 
endeavor to preserve the peace. A number of Indian depre- 
dations were committed, and several unprovoked outrages, 
on the other hand, were practiced against the Indians by 
white men. The Indians complained bitterly of encroach- 
ments by white settlers on lands reserved for them. Finally, 
a demand was made for the retrocession of a large tract of 
land southeast of the Wabash, which had been ceded to the 
government by a treaty made at Fort Wayne in 1809. The 
claim was put forward that the lands w^re owned in common 
by all the tribes, and no one of them individually had a 
right to sell; that the consent and concurrence of all 
should be procured to make any cession valid. This was 
preached with great ingenuity by the Prophet, along with 
the employment by him of other arguments to inflame his 
people. Tecumseh devoted his efforts mainly to the broader 
enterprise of forming a confederacy of the tribes. All the 
while both disclaimed any hostile purposes whatever, and 
made a great point of promoting reforms among the Indians. 
They especially inveighed against the use of intoxicating 
liquors by the people of the tribes. 

Meanwhile a crisis in the relations between the United 
States and Great Britain was approaching. By the latter 
part of the year 1810 the certainty of war was generally 
recognized, and the British agents in Canada began making 
unusual efforts t;o cultivate the friendship of the Indians, 



100 INDIAN WARS 

and at the same time stir their hatred of the Americans. 
Governor Harrison put forth every reasonable endeavor to 
avert trouble with the Indians, by holding conferences with 
them, sending commissioners to treat with them, and b}^ 
personal interviews and correspondence with both Tecumseh 
and the Prophet. 

Governor Harrison and Tecumseh Hold Conferences; 
Remarkable Speeches of the Latter. A memorable confer- 
ence took place between Governor Harrison and Tecumseh 
at Vincennes in August, 1810. It began on the 12th of the 
month and lasted ten days. Tecumseh came in almost 
royal state, supported by seventy-five of his warriors. 
General Harrison was surrounded by his official staff, and 
attended by a guard of twelve men. General Gibson, 
secretary of the territory, was also present. The principal 
matter under consideration was the cession by treaty at 
Fort Wayne (1809) of certain large tracts of land, aggre- 
gating almost three million acres, lying principally south- 
east of the Wabash River. Tecumseh and the Prophet had 
repudiated the sale, arguing that those who sold the land 
had no right to do so; that no sale could be valid unless 
all the tribes concurred, on the principle that the lands were 
owned by them in common, and in equal interest. 

The Indians were always lovers of grave ceremonial, and 
fond of conventions and tribal gatherings. Upon this 
occasion, as upon others, the time of the conference was 
largely taken up by Indian oratory. In one of his addresses 
Tecumseh used the language: '' Brother, do not believe we 
came here to get presents from you.^ If you offer any, we 
will not take them; by taking goods from you, yon will 

1 It had long been customary to give the Indians belts or other orna- 
ments, and presents of substantial value, when meeting; them in conference. 



INDIAN WARS 101 

hereafter say that with them you purchased another piece 
of land from us. . . . How can we have confidence in the 
white people? When Jesus Christ came upon the earth you 
killed him, and nailed him on a cross. You thought he was 
dead, but you were mistaken. You have Shakers among 
you and you laugh and make light of their worship. . . . The 
Great Spirit has inspired me, and I speak nothing but the 
truth to you. . . . Brother, I hope you will confess that 
you ought not to have listened to those bad birds who bring 
you bad news." ^ 

Later in his speech Tecumseh said naively: " If you think 
proper to give us any presents, and we can be convinced that 
they are given through friendship alone, we will accept them. 
As we intend to hold our council at the Huron village, that 
is near the British, we may probably make them a visit. 
Should they offer us any presents of goods, we will not take 
them; but should they offer us powder and the tomahawk, 
we will take the powder and refuse the tomahawk." 

The governor delivered a short talk, in which he main- 
tained that the government of the United States had treated 
the Indians with uniform justice, not varying this policy 
even when dealing with the weakest and most insignificant 
of the tribes. In the midst of his speech he was interrupted 
by Tecumseh, who directed a flow of words in his direction, 
accompanied by violent gesticulations. In his angry speech 
Tecumseh denounced the governor's statements as false, 
declaring that the United States had " cheated and imposed 
upon the Indians." The assembled warriors also rose, armed 
with clubs, spears, and tomahawks, and stood in a threaten- 
ing attitude. Governor Harrison did not understand the 

^ Referring to those who had reported to General Harrison the hostile 
purposes of Tecumseh and the Prophet. 
Moore. Ind. — 7 



102 IXDIAX WARS 

siguiticanco of the denioust ration until Teeuniseh's words 
luul been interpreted to him. Meanwhile the governor's 
little guard had been ealled into position at the instanee of 
General Gibson, who understood the Indian language, and 
when quiet was restored Teeumseh was told that the council 
lire was quenched, and the governor would no longer have 
any communication with him. 

The next morning, however, Teeumseh sent in his apolo- 
gies, and declared that he memit no harm; that he wished 
everything amicably settled; and the conference was finally 
resumed, the great chief's attitude and speech thereafter 
being more respectful. Governor Harrison asked him if 
white men would be left unmolested if they should come to 
survey the land purchased at the treaty of Fort Wa>'ne, and 
whether the Kickapoos would or would not receive their 
annuities, they having previously refused them. Teeumseh 
replied: *' Brother, when you speak o( annuities to me. I 
look at the land and pity the women and children. I am 
authorized to say that they will not receive them. Brother, 
we want to save that piece of land. ... It is small enough 
for our purpose. If you do take it, you must blame yourself 
as the cause of trouble between us and the tribes who sold 
it to you. " 

The next day the governor told Teeumseh frankly that 
his pretensions woukl not be countenanced by the President 
of the United States. Teeumseh replied: " Well, as the 
great chief is to determine the matter, I hope the Great 
Spirit will put sense enough into his head to induce him to 
direct you to give up this land. It is true, he is so far off 
he will not be injured by the war. He may sit still in his 
town, and drink his wine, whilo you and I will have to tight 
it out." 



INDIAN WARS 103 

Still another conference was held in July, 1811. This 
time Tecumseh came with three hundred attendants, twenty 
or thirty of them being- wonuni and cliildren. The presence 
of so large a body of Indians created great alarm at Vincennes. 
It is not probable, however, that an attack upon the governor 
or the city was contemplated, but there is some reason to 
believe that Tecumseh entertained a purpose to execute, in 
the presence of the governor and the white people assembled 
with him, some of the chiefs and warriors who had participated 
in the land sale complained of. As a matter of precaution, 
and to impress the Indians with the military power of the 
territorial government, without at the same time giving 
them open cause for offense, the governor made a pretext 
of reviewing the militia in their presence, the force consisting 
of seven hundred and fifty men. 

At the close of this conference Tecumseh, accompanied 
by about twenty warriors, started on his journey southward 
to perfect his program of forming a great Indian Confederacy. 
Harrison saw that further efforts to win back the Indians 
were in vain, and began preparations for war. He deter- 
mined to erect a new fort on the Wabash, and break up 
the hostile camp at Prophetstown near the mouth of the 
Tippecanoe, where a large body of Indians had been 
brought together through the efforts of the Prophet. 

Erection of Fort Harrison; Battle of Tippecanoe. In 
September, 1811, General Harrison placed himself at the 
head of a small army of something over seven hundred men, 
and marching from Vincennes to a spot not far from where 
the city of Terre Haute now stands, erected a fort which 
was called Fort Harrison. It was completed on the 28th 
of October. Leaving a small garrison in charge, General 
Harrison resumed his march, and arrived within sight of 



104 INDIAN WARS 

Prophetstown on the 6th of November. Meanwhile he had 
received reenforcements sufficient to bring his command up 
to a strength of nine hundred and ten men, two hundred and 
fifty of whom were regulars. Of the remainder about six 
hundred were Indiana militia, and the balance volunteers 
from Kentucky. 

Refraining from an attack on the town that evening, as 
the Indians met him with loud protestations of their peace- 
able intentions. General Harrison marched his men a short 
distance beyond and went into camp for the night, arrang- 
ing to have a conference with the Prophet the next morning. 
Unfortunately the camping site chosen was not an ideal 
one for defense. It was on high ground, fringed with trees 
and dense undergrowth, affording excellent facilities for the 
stealthy approach and treacherous attack of the lurking 
Indians of Prophetstown. The men were instructed to 
sleep with their clothes and accoutrements on, and with bay- 
onets fixed and firearms loaded. These precautions proved 
most timely, for on the morning of the 7th, before it was day, 
the Indians attacked the camp. The onslaught was sudden 
and fierce, the main attack being shrewdly directed against 
that part of the camp occupied by the militia, and for a time 
consternation and confusion reigned, the guard breaking 
at the first fire. The troops were gradually formed into line, 
and the battle raged angrily in the darkness. The Ameri- 
cans defended themselves in their positions until it became 
light enough to see, when they charged with such spirit and 
gallantry that their assailants were sent flying from the 
field. The victory was decisive and complete, and of the 
greatest importance in its moral effect upon the Indians. 
The loss to the Americans was thirty-seven killed and one 
hundred and fifty-two wounded, of whom twenty-five after- 



lOG I.WDfAX WARS 

wards died of their injuries. The Indians suffered an equal 
loss. Their strength in the battle was variously estimated at 
five hundred to seven hundred and fifty warriors. Proph- 
etstown was destroyed the next day, w^ith all its stores. 
The battle took place about seven miles from where the city 
of Lafayette now stands, and is known to history as the 
Battle of Tippecanoe.^ As a result of it the Indians were 
completely dispirited, and offered no further trouble until 
the breaking out of the War of 1812. 

Tippecanoe Battle Ground Owned by State; Monument 
Erected. General John Tipton, who participated in the 
battle of Tippecanoe as an ensign in one of the companies, 
afterwards bought the tract of land on which it occurred 
and donated it to the state. And the state, in the year 1908, 
almost a century after the battle was fought, erected on the 
site an appropriate monument to commemorate the heroic 
deeds of her early citizen soldiery. - 

The Prophet Discredited. Tecumseh was not present at 
the battle of Tippecanoe, being in the South at the time, 
trying to organize a great Indian confederacy. It is said 
that he rebuked his brother, the Prophet, for the untimeli- 
ness of his attack. The Prophet's power over the people of 
the tribes, fortunately, -was completel}^ broken. He had told 
the braves, when urging them to battle, that the bullets of the 
white men would not pierce their bodies or hurt or wound 
them, for the Great Spirit had so declared to him. They 
never forgave the deception or trusted the Prophet again. 

1 "It was on the return march from Ihe battle of Tip]x>eanoe that the 
soldiers from Kentuck}' gathered the seed of the blue grass which they found 
growing in Indiana, and carried it home with them, thinking it was a superior 
variety, because it satisfied the hunger of their horses so that the\^ would 
not eat their corn. It flourished so well on the limestone soil of central 
Kentucky that it made the state famous." — Jvdia Henderson Levering, in 
Historic Indiana. 



INDIAN WARS 107 

WAR OF 1812, AND ITS EFFECT ON INDIAN RELATIONS 
IN INDIANA 

Indians under Influence of the British; Pigeon Roost 
Massacre and Attacks on Forts. Upon the breaking out of 
actual war between the United States and Great Britain 
in 1812, the Indians once more began to indulge in acts of 
hostihty, being either in alhance with the British or incited 
by them. Many incursions were made upon the settlers 
in Indiana, and massacres and isolated murders com- 
mitted. 

On September 3, 1812, a massacre occurred at Pigeon 
Roost, in Scott County, wherein a whole settlement was 
practically wiped out. Twenty-four persons were killed. 
On the same day an attack was made on Fort Harrison 
and a siege maintained until the 5th of September. Captain 
Zachary Taylor, who afterwards became President of the 
United States, was in charge of the garrison at the fort, and 
successfully fought the Indians away until relief arrived, 
although one of the blockhouses was partially burned, and 
there was imminent danger from wholesale destruction by 
fire, as well as from massacre by the Indians. 

In the same month an unsuccessful attempt was made to 
take Fort Wayne by stratagem, and a siege followed. Gen- 
eral Harrison came to the rescue, arriving with an adequate 
force on September 12, when the Indians were put to 
flight. 

General Hopkins made two expeditions against the Indians 
in September, 1812. On the first his troops mutinied, and 
nothing was accomplished. On the second he destroyed an 
Indian village or so, but lost a score of men. These expedi- 
tions started from Vincennes. 



108 INDIAN WARS 

Battle of Mississinewa. Colonel John B. Campbell, of 
the regular army, entering the state from Ohio, dashed 
into the hostile Miami country with a force of six hundred 
mounted men, in December, 1812, and inflicted severe 
punishment. He destroyed an important town on the 
Mississinewa, and killed and captured a number of braves. 
Other Indian towns were also given a taste of his vengeance. 
The campaign took place at a time when it was bitterly 
cold, and snow lay deep upon the frozen earth. On the 
18th of December, as Colonel Campbell was making prepa- 
rations to return to Dayton, to avoid meeting Tecumseh 
with a greatly superior force, he was suddenly attacked by 
a large body of Indians. He repulsed them after a hard- 
fought battle, inflicting and suffering severe losses. The 
encounter took place on the Mississinewa, near the site of 
the present town of Jalapa, in Grant County, and is known 
as the battle of the Mississinewa. 

Colonel John Tipton, Colonel Joseph Bartholomew, and 
Colonel William Russell led small bodies of men against the 
Indians in different parts of the state during the year 
1813. 

General Harrison and the Battle of the Thames ; Death of 
Tecumseh. In September, 1813, the British were compelled 
to leave Detroit by the approach of General Harrison, and 
on the 5th of October that intrepid leader, at the head of a 
brave little army of Americans, defeated the British and 
Indians at the celebrated battle of the Thames. It was in 
this battle that Tecumseh, one of the greatest of all Indian 
warriors and statesmen, was killed. He had been in the 
British military service throughout the war. His twin 
brother, the '' Prophet," who made his home in Canada for 
a time, but later returned to the Indian country west of the 



INDIAN WARS 109 

Mississippi, drew a pension from the British government 
until his death in 1834. 

The foregoing events practically put an end to Indian 
warfare in Indiana, although there were a few incursions in 
1814, and occasional outbreaks of an unimportant nature 
for two or three years following. 

Extinguishing Indian Titles; Early Land Values. Grad- 
ually their titles to lands in Indiana were extinguished, and 
the Indians forced to remove beyond the borders of the state. 
Following the treaties of 1809, however, there were no more 
concessions of special importance until 1816 to 1818. 

Land valuations in the early times were very low as com- 
pared with the present, and considerations received by the 
Indians for the various large tracts relinquished by them 
would seem woefully inadequate if set forth here. The 
United States government endeavored to treat the Indians 
with reasonable justice in the matter of fixing standards of 
compensation. True, the Indians were practically forced 
to sell, as all hopes of their adopting civilized modes of life, 
or living at peace with the whites in the same community, 
had long since been abandoned. It was when dealing with 
private individuals or greedy land corporations that the 
Indian was mercilessly swindled. The purchase by the 
" Wabash Land Company," in 1775, of approximately 
thirty-seven and a half million acres of fertile lands lying 
on both sides of the Wabash, in what are now southwestern 
Indiana and southeastern Illinois, is a fair example. The 
price paid consisted of four hundred blankets, two hundred 
and fifty shirts, a quantity of garterings, a few pieces of 
ribbon, seventy-five dozen knives of different kinds, five 
hundred pounds of brass kettles, six hundred pounds of 
gunpowder, two thousand pounds of lead, four hundred 



110 INDIAN WARS 

pounds of tobacco, forty bushels of salt, three thousand 
pounds of flour, three horses, a number of silver arm bands, 
wristbands, crosses, ear wheels, and earbobs, and a few other 
articles altogether worth a few hundred dollars. Governor 
Dunmore of Virginia was one of the stockholders in this 
thrifty land company. 

Stories of Indian Captivity ; Abduction of Frances Slocum ; 
the Recollection of a Song. The history of the Indian wars, 
and the contending civilizations of the red man and the 
white, abounds in stories of adventure, of deceit and du- 
plicity, of cruelty, and of bereavement. But the people of 
the present generation are so far removed from those days 
and nights of alarm, and the many perils of frontier life, 
that interest in the subject has diminished almost to the 
vanishing Doint. 

Furthermore, so much history of a different kind has 
been made since the Indian disappeared from the scene, 
that the very sense of proportion' in preparing a modern 
history must assign to him a much more limited space. 
But there are a few Indian stories that will live, and will 
bear frequent retelling, not out of malice toward a vanished 
race, but because of their human interest. 

One of these is the story of Frances Slocum, who was 
stolen from her home in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, when a 
child of six or seven years, by a band of Indians. This was 
in 1777. We may imagine the anxiety and distress of the 
parents and brothers and sisters of little Frances Slocum, 
when her capture became known. They sent out mes- 
sengers, offered rewards, searched the forests, but all in 
vain. Weeks, months, years rolled by, and no tidings came. 
Despair followed hope, as fancy pictured the dreadful fate 
which often befell captives by the Indians. And life among 



IN or AX WARS 111 

the cruel hordes of liomeless, uiiciviHzed wanderers, even if 
the child were permitted to live, would be almost as horrible 
as the death her loved ones feared would be her portion. 

The sorrowing parents grew gray-haired and feeble and 
old, and finally died, as time wore on. The brothers and 
sisters of the missing babe grew to manhood and woman- 
hood, and age and sorrow also laid hand upon them, and 
wrinkled their brows and silvered their hair before they 
heard tidings of the lost one. A brother and a sister were 
present, but escaped, when Frances was stolen. 

Just sixty years from the date of the disappearance a clew 
came to hand through a newspaper publication by George 
W. Ewing, a United States agent among the Miami Indians, 
in northern Indiana. The article had been addressed two 
years earlier by Mr. Ewing, to " Any Newspaper in Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania," in the hope that its publication would 
fall under the notice of some surviving relative or friend 
of the long missing captive. But there was no newspaper 
published at Lancaster at that time, and so the faithful 
postmaster held the letter two years until one was started, 
when he delivered it to the editor. The editor, John W. 
Forney, puVjlished the letter, and sure enough Isaac Slocum, 
a brother of Frances, saw a reproduction of the article in 
another paper, and read it. He was then almost eighty years 
of age, but immediately sought out his aged sister, who with 
him in the long ago had scampered away to safety when 
the Indians caught Frances, and together they started for 
the wilds of Indiana to find her. They crossed the moun- 
tains, forded streams, labored over unimproved roads, and 
traversed the forests with only narrow bridle paths to guide 
them, until they came to the Miami village on the Mississin- 
ewa, not far from where the present city of Peru now stands. 



112 INDIAN WAR^ 

And they found there the precious object of their quest. 
But the passing years had dealt with her as with them. She 
was no longer a child, but an aged woman. The Indians 
had adopted her at the time of her capture. She grew up 
among them, acquired their habits and speech, and married 
a brave, who shortly afterwards fell in battle and left her 
a widow. Later she was wedded to Sha-pah-can-nah, a 
Delaware chief, and it was as his wife that her brother and 
sister found her. A more pathetic situation than that 
attendant upon the meeting could scarcely be pictured. It 
was not a joyful, tearful, impulsive reunion, such as one 
would expect to see under the circumstances. There was 
not even recognition. Identification was made certain only 
by a scar on one finger of the right hand of the now grown and 
aged Frances, made there by an accidental blow from a ham- 
mer in the hands of her octogenarian brother, when they 
played together as children on the banks of the Susquehanna. 
She could speak no English, having forgotten the childish 
knowledge she once possessed of the language, and was able 
to converse with her brother and sister only through the 
aid of an interpreter. 

And when it came time for the brother and sister to return 
to their home in Pennsylvania, they went alone, for Frances 
knew only the wild free life of the forests, and shrank from 
a return to the civilization from which she had been so rudely 
torn in babyhood. She loved her Indian husband, and 
would not consent to go away from him. She had become 
an Indian in habits, in taste, in the red people's peculiar 
taciturnity and indifference, — an Indian in all respects 
save blood and color. Thus it happened that though 
alive and found, she was not reclaimed. 

In the celebrated expedition of Colonel Boquet against 



INDIAN WARS 113 

the Shawnees and other hostile tribes, more than two hun- 
dred white prisoners were released and restored to civiliza- 
tion. Many of them had been, in captivity for long periods 
of time. They were brought into camp for identification 
by relatives and friends, and among the prisoners " husbands 
found their wives and parents their children, from whom 
they had been separated for many years." We quote the 
following brief description of scenes that ensued, and the 
story of the child recalled to recollection of her grandmother 
by a song, from Colonel Robert S. Robertson's History of 
the Upper Maumee Valley: 

" Women, frantic with hope and fear, were running hither 
and thither, looking piercingly into the face of every child. 
Some of the little captives shrank from their forgotten 
mothers, and. hid in terror in the blankets of the squaws 
that had adopted them. Some that had been taken away 
young, had grown up and married Indian husbands or 
Indian wives, and now stood utterly bewildered with con- 
flicting emotions. 

'' An old woman had lost her granddaughter in the French 
war nine years before. Searching with trembling eagerness 
in each face, she at last recognized the altered features of 
her child. But the girl had forgotten her native tongue, 
and returned no answer and made no sign. The old woman 
complained bitterly that the daughter she had so often sung 
to sleep on her knee had forgotten her in her old age. Sol- 
diers and officers were alike overcome. ' Sing,' said Boquet, 
to the old lady, ' sing the song you used to sing.' As the 
low, trembling tones began to ascend, the wild girl seemed 
startled, then listening for a moment longer, she burst into 
a flood of tears. She was indeed the lost child, but all else 
had been effaced from her memory save the recollection of 



114 INDIAN WARS 

that sweet cradle song. The tender sensibilities were 
foreign, as a rule, to the Indian heart; indeed, they held 
such emotions in contempt; but when the song of the 
old lady was seen by them to touch the captive's heart and 
bring her again to a mother's arms, they were overcome 
with sympathy.'^ 



CHAPTER X 
THE EARLY SETTLER 

The Typical Pioneer and His Surroundings. The early 
settlers of Indiana were a brave and hardy race of pioneers, 
who came to estabhsh homes, and to conquer a wilderness 
known to be infested with savage Indians, wild beasts, and 
deadly fevers. They probably did not realize then that 
while planting their rude cabins in the clearings they were 
at the same time laying, broad and deep, the foundations 
of a great commonwealth. They builded better than they 
knew. 

The typical pioneer of those early days was hard-working 
and industrious. He may have been unpolished in manners 
and rude in speech, but beneath his rough exterior there 
beat a kindly heart. He never refused the hospitality of his 
home to a stranger or denied response to an appeal for aid. 
His log house, sometimes without a window in it, was heated 
by means of an open fireplace and lighted by a tallow dip. 
The household furniture was plain and scanty, and home- 
made. He manufactured most of his own farm tools and 
implements, and did the necessary repairing. As a rule, he 
made and cobbled his own shoes, and those of his family, 
and he was dressed up as much as he wanted to be when 
arrayed in his buckskin trousers, hunting shirt, and coon- 
skin cap. His neighbors helped him build up the log walls 
of his own cabin, and to prove his gratitude he assisted at 
every other house raising in the neighborhood as long as he 
lived. 

115 



116 



THE EARLY SETTLER 



He planted and harvested lii.s crops of corn, wheat, pota- 
toes, and flax in the summer time, and extended his ''clear- 
ings " in the winter. He was an autocrat in the family, 
and exacted from his children as long as they remained under 
the parental roof that degree of deference which he con- 
sidered his rightful due. 




The Coming of the Immigrants. (From an old print.) 



The pioneer women were equally brave and self-sacrific- 
ing. They became so used to being in peril of their lives 
from the Indians and wild beasts, that a sense of security 
would almost have made them lonesome. They not only 
performed their own household work, but spun the wool 
and the flax, wove the cloth, and did the family tailoring, 
sewing, and knitting. Linsey-woolsey constituted the prin- 
cipal material of their own fine raiment. 



THE EARLY SETTLER 117 

There was an abundance of game in the country then, 
and the streams were ahve with fish. The early settler had 
no trouble keeping up the meat supply for his family by an 
occasional stroll through the woods with his rifle. There 
were buffalo, deer, bear, wild pigeons, geese and ducks, and 
other game birds and animals. The pigeons were so plenti- 
ful that at times they would almost darken the sun with 
their overhead flight. 

Forms of Recreation ; Pioneer Schools and Churches. Log 
rollings, house raisings, wood choppings, corn shuckings, 
spelling bees, singing schools, dances, quiltings, shooting 
matches, and horse racing were the prevailing forms of 
recreation, and provided occasions for the principal social 
gatherings. The early schoolmaster and the '' circuit rider " 
preacher were personages of great social importance in those 
days. 

The schools and the churches constituted a very rude 
beginning as compared to the present state of educational and 
religious progress and vastly improved facilities, but the 
open minds and hearts of those early founders of our insti- 
tutions were within themselves a sufficient compensation 
for the absence of luxuries and aesthetic finish to them un- 
known and unsuspected. A liberal policy in the matter of 
educational facilities early developed, and the mud-chinked 
schoolhouse on the knoll was as well patronized as the 
exigencies of '' making a living " would permit. The help 
of sons and daughters old enough to work was usually 
needed on the farm and at the home until the '' fall work " 
was done. But the backwoods school and the primitive 
church, with all their crudeness, were potential in forming 
character, and they provided the fountainhead of inspiration 
for many a splendid career. 

MooKE, Ind. — S 



118 THE EARLY SETTLER 

Glancing Back to the Good Old Days. The latter day 
farmer, with his riding plows, mowing machines, self binders, 
steam separators, hay loaders, corn and wheat drills, tele- 
phones, turnpike roads, trolley lines, rural free-delivery 
routes, daily newspapers, and likely as not an automobile, 
would hardly recognize himself as a member of the fraternity 
if he could be carried back for a peep into those good old 
days of the beginnings of things in Indiana. 

The early settlers suffered much from malarial troubles 
and fever and ague. For a time the state bore the reputa- 
tion of being unhealthful, but deserved it no more than any 
other unimproved level forest country. With the forests 
cleared away, the swamps drained, and the lands reduced 
to cultivation, these early causes for complaint disappeared, 
and Indiana long has been one of the most healthful states 
in all the Union. 

The pioneer settlers in Indiana came principally from 
Kentucky, Virginia, the Carolina's, and the New England 
states. Many of the early French settlers also remained. 
In later years New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio furnished 
many immigrants. 

All found a hearty welcome, and to their industry, devo- 
tion, and patriotic enterprise, succeeding generations, in- 
heriting the fruits of their toil and sacrifice, owe a debt of 
gratitude impossible of repayment otherwise than by leading 
lives of good citizensliip and practicing a like devotion to the 
government and institutions which they founded. 



CHAPTER XI 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

JONATHAN JENNINGS THE FIRST GOVERNOR (1816-1822) 

Governor Resigns to Accept Election to Congress. Jona- 
than Jennings, who had the honor of being the first governor 
of the state of Indiana, 
assumed office in De- 
cember, 1816. He was 
reelected in 1819 for a 
second term, and served 
mitil September 18, 
1822, when he resigned 
to accept election to 
Congress at the hands 
of the voters of the 
second district. Jen- 
nings's example thus 
early presented of re- 
signing the chief execu- 
tive's office to accept 
congressional or sena- 
torial honors was fol- 
lowed by four other 
governors, the last 

being Ohver P. Morton. Ratliff Boon, who was chosen 
lieutenant governor at the election of 1819, assumed the 
governor's duties for the few remaining days of Jennings's 

unexpired term. 

119 




Jonathan Jennings 



120 PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

The First Legislature; Territorial Laws Continued in 
Force. The first legislature under the new constitution 
convened at Corydon in November, 1816. The old terri- 
torial laws were temporarily continued in force and a few 
new measures enacted. It is interesting to note that accord- 
ing to the latest revision of the territorial statutes, which 
took place in 1807, there were four capital offenses, that is, 
offenses punishable by death, to wit: treason, murder, arson, 
and horse stealing. Other penalties provided for crimes of 
lower grades and for misdemeanors, included imprisonment, 
fines, whipping, standing in the pillory, disfranchisement, 
and binding out to labor for a term of years. 

The First State Bank. In 1817 the bank at Vincennes was 
made the state bank, and authorized to establish a number 
of branches. This first state bank was short-lived, however, 
its charter being revoked in 1821 because of mismanagement 
and reckless financiering. 

Question of Fugitive Slaves. In 1817 Governor Jennings 
received a communication from the governor of Kentucky 
complaining that Kentucky owners of fugitive slaves escap- 
ing into Indiana were unable to recover them because they 
were concealed and protected by Indiana officers and citi- 
zens. The communication was referred to the legislature, 
which investigated through a committee, and reported by 
resolution that, in their opinion, the governor and legisla- 
ture of Kentucky were being imposed upon by complaints of 
unscrupulous persons who had been thwarted in attempts at 
man-stealing — that is, claiming negroes in Indiana and 
attempting to carry them away as fugitive slaves when they 
were free, ^nd owed no servitude to anybody. The answer 
was perhaps a just one, and based largely upon truth, yet 
there are ample evidences that the underground railroads 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 121 

in Indiana began doing business at a very early period 
in the state's history. 

Lieutenant Seeks to Supplant the Governor. In 1818 the 
President appointed Governor Jennings to membership on a 
commission to negotiate with the Indians, and while he w^as 
absent in the performance of this duty, Lieutenant Governor 
Harrison attempted to oust him from the governorship. He 
relied upon the constitutional provision that no person hold- 
ing office under the United States should be eligible to hold 
the office of governor. The legislature at first recognized 
Harrison, and it looked as if his usurpation might succeed, 
but after an investigation the case was decided against him. 
He thereupon resigned his office as lieutenant governor, and 
in 1819 became a candidate against Jennings for reelection, 
but was overwhelmingly defeated. 

Commission to Locate a Permanent Capital. In 1820 
the legislature appointed a commission to select a location 
for a permanent state capital. On the 7th of June the 
commission reached an agreement, and the " city of In- 
dianapolis " was planned to be built upon a spot chosen near 
the geographical center of the state. ^ And notwithstanding 
the fact that the nearest store was at Connersville, on the 
White Water, nearly sixty miles away, the dream of the city 
in the wilderness came true, as modern Indianapolis will 
gladly testify. The seat of government was not removed 
from Cory don to Indianapolis until 1825. The ground upon 
which the new city was to be built was donated from public 
lands by Congress, the grant consisting of four sections. 

1 There is a marked similarity between Indianapolis and Washington, 
D. C, which is accounted for by the fact that Alexander Ralston, a Scotch- 
man, who laid out the streets and public groimds of Indianapolis, had also 
assisted in making the surv^eys for Washington. Indianapolis, in short, is 
modeled after the national capital, and is scarcely less beautiful. 



122 PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

New State Financially Embarrassed; Panic of 1821 and 
Causes. Governor Jennings called a special session of the 
legislature in November, 1821, " to provide for the interest 
on the state debt, and a part of the principal, amounting to 
$20,000." The state's embarrassment was charged in the 
governor's message to mismanagement of the affairs of the 
state bank. This banking trouble evidently contributed its 
full share to the panic of 1821, though much was chargeable 
to the era of speculation following the War of 1812. 

Then the balance of trade was against the people of the 
state. Lacking adequate markets for their surplus products, 
the consumption of imported goods was greater than the 
value of their exports, or sales of products. The natural 
result was to drain the country of money. Distress was 
general, and confidence was not fully restored for four or 
five years. 

Extinguishing Indian Titles. In the year 1818, by a series 
of treaties at St. Mary's, Ohio, the United States succeeded 
in purchasing nearly all the remaining Indian lands in central 
Indiana, south of the upper Wabash. The extensive Pota- 
watami possessions, lying principally north of the Wabash, 
were acquired through a series of transactions, beginning in 
1818 and covering a period of nearly twenty years. The 
work of extinguishing Indian titles continued actively from 
this time forward, one or more treaties being made almost 
every year, until 1840. 

Great Seal of the State. The Great Seal of the State was 
adopted some time during this administration. It was 
authorized by an act of the general assembly in December, 
1816, the act carrying an appropriation of one hundred dol- 
lars. The seal has been much criticised, as lacking both in 
artistic beauty and appropriateness or significance of design. 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 123 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR WILLIAM HENDRICKS 

(1822-1825) 

President Pro Tern, of State Senate Succeeds to Governor- 
ship. William Hendricks and Ratliff Boon were elected 
governor and lieutenant governor respectively, at the August 
election in 1822. On the 12th of February, 1825, Gover- 
nor Hendricks resigned to accept election to the United States 
Senate, and there was no lieutenant governor to succeed him, 
Lieutenant Governor Boon having previously resigned. Un- 
der these circumstances James Brown Ray, president pro 
tern, of the state senate, became acting governor, serving 
until December 25th, the close of the term. And Mr. Ray 
was elected governor on his own account for the two terms 
next succeeding. 

GOVERNOR ray's ADMINISTRATION (1825-1831) 

Return of Prosperity. The six years of Governor James B. 
Ray's administration proved to be a period of unbroken pros- 
perity. The depression setting in about the year 1820 had 
happily passed away, crops were good, and there were activ- 
ity, hope, and buoyancy on every hand. A constant stream 
of immigration poured into the state, public lands were taken 
up by bona fide settlers, and trade and commerce flourished 
and expanded. During this administration most of the land 
still belonging to the Indians was relinquished by them to 
the government, the Indians in large numbers being induced 
at the same time to remove from the state. 

Visit of General Lafayette. An important event in 
Governor Ray's administration was the visit to the state in 
1825 of General Lafayette. The city of Indianapolis being 



124 PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

newly laid out, and inaccessible for want of railroad facilities, 
Lafayette was entertained at Jeffersonville, on the Ohio 
River. " In the forest adjoining that village a feast was 
spread, to' which the general was conducted by the state 
militia, and children strewed flowers in his path. At the 
head of the long table was an arch with the inscription, 
' Indiana welcomes Lafayette, the champion of liberty in 
both hemispheres.' " ^ 

School Legislation and School Lands. Some valuable 
school legislation passed during the previous administration 
was supplemented by additional enactments in this, proving 
the liberality and progressiveness of early statesmen in refer- 
ence to popular education. The congressional school lands 
belonging to the state in 1825 were estimated at 680,207 
acres, worth on an average two dollars per acre. 

Question of Internal Improvements; the Michigan Road. 
During these years the question of internal improvements 
engaged the earnest attention of -public men and citizens. 
There were no railroads, and commerce and trade had to 
depend upon the watercourses of the state, and such public 
highways as were then in existence. So it is very plain that 
the question of improved facilities, as the country prospered 
and grew, early became a vital one. To add to the water 
facilities an elaborate system of canals was advocated and 
their construction finally undertaken, while turnpikes and 
gravel roads were projected and built, and afterwards ex- 
panded into the almost complete system of good roads we 
now enjoy. A public thoroughfare running from Madison, 
on the Ohio River, to Lake Michigan, by way of Indianapolis, 
was planned, and the Indians were induced to give a section 
of land for each mile to aid in its construction. Work was 

1 Julia Henderson Levering, in Historic Indiana. 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 125 

begun and carried forward for a time with great entliusiasm, 
but the people soon learned, and to their sorrow, that every- 
thing cannot be accomplished at once; that states as well as 
individuals need to gauge their resources carefully before 
rushing into great and costly enterprises. 

GOVERNOR noble's ADMINISTRATION (1831-1837) 

Beginning of Party Politics. Noah Noble was elected 
governor in 1831, and reelected in 1834, serving two terms. 

Party organizations in the state, corresponding to the 
national political alignments, began to be made prominent 
about this time. Governor Noble was a Whig, and his party 
retained its ascendancy until the election of Governor Whit- 
comb, a democrat, in 1843, the democratic party remain- 
ing in power from that date continuously until the election 
of Lane and Morton, in 1860. 

A New Statehouse Built; the Present Structure. From 
the time of the removal of the state capital from Corydon 
to Indianapolis in 1825 the legislature had been holding its 
sessions in the Marion County courthouse. The grounds upon 
which the courthouse stood had been given by the legisla- 
ture, and an appropriation of $8000 was granted to aid in the 
construction of the building, in return for which aid the legis- 
lature reserved the right to hold its sessions in the building for 
fifty years. But in 1832 it was determined that the state 
needed and could afford a building of its own, so an appro- 
priation of $58,000 was made, and contracts were let at once. 
The structure was completed in 1835, and occupied from that 
date until 1888, when the present magnificent capitol build- 
ing, costing $1,980,969, was dedicated to the uses of the 
state government. 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 127 

Boundary Dispute with Michigan. In 1834 a boundary 
line controversy waxed warm between Indiana and Michigan. 
Michigan desired the line between the two states removed 
some ten miles south of its present location, which is the 
location fixed b}^ Congress in 1805. The change would have 
excluded Indiana from access to Lake Michigan except 
through the jurisdiction of another state, to say nothing of 
depriving her of a ten-mile strip of her choicest territory. 
Michigan's claim, accordingly, was resisted through every 
resource of fact and logic. Congress finally settled the ques- 
tion (1836) by confirming the present boundary, but extended 
Michigan's territory into the Lake Superior region. 

Vast System of Internal Improvements. Governor Noble 
was an advocate of extensive public improvements, having 
been elected on a platform declaration to that effect. He 
early began the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal, for 
the promotion of which Congress had given, in 1827, a large 
and valuable grant of land. This canal was to connect Lake 
Erie with the Wabash River, at a point below which the river 
would be navigable ; and in 1836, a general system of internal 
improvements having been agreed upon, consisting of canals, 
railroads, and turnpikes, covering almost the entire state, 
bonds were issued and sold, and contracts let. Then ensued 
an era of great prosperity. There was employment for every- 
body at profitable wages, money was plentiful and easy to 
get, and a spirit of daring speculation and of general extrava- 
gance seized upon many of the people, and helped to embitter 
the unfortunate experiences so soon to follow. The future, 
with these great improvements completed, was pictured in 
exceedingly bright colors. It was thought by some that the 
revenues to be derived from the railroads and canals would 
not only pay for their construction, })ut would l)uild up such 



128 PnOGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

a surplus in the treasury of the state as to reheve the people 
of all burdens of taxation. 

The improvements undertaken consisted of 1289 miles of 
roads, railroads, and canals, at an estimated cost of $19,914,- 
424. Bonds for many millions were issued and sold, and the 
state's indebtedness by 1841 had been pushed up to the 
appalling aggregate of $18,469,146. The total of roads and 
canals completed up to that time amounted to onl}- two 
hundred and eighty-one miles. 

The State Embarrassed; Works Abandoned, and Com- 
promise Made With Creditors; the First Railroad. It very 
soon became apparent that the state had overestimated its 
financial resources, and before a halt could be called had 
involved itself beyond its ability to pay. And to make mat- 
ters worse, the pall of the great panic of 1837 descended upon 
the whole country, at the very time of the state's greatest 
embarrassment. All the works had to be abandoned, bring- 
ing bankruptcy to contractors and Ylistress to thousands of 
citizens. Construction ceased entirely in 1839. 

The state found itself unable to pay even the interest on 
its indebtedness, much less to proceed further with the 
improvements. It finally entered into compromise agree- 
ments with its creditors, relieving itself of a part of the debt 
and reducing interest charges. The creditors were permitted 
to take over the unfinished improvements in part satisfaction 
of their claims, the balance being paid in new bonds, or 
treasury notes. As a rule, the improvements were not com- 
pleted by the new owners, and the state's vast expenditures 
were practically for naught. Then the securities in the 
nature of bonds, and certificates of stock, to possession of 
which the state was entitled under the compromise settle- 
ments, were not all surrendered, and afterwards attempts 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 129 

were made to exact payment of them. Claims were also 
preferred on the grounds that the state had rendered the 
canal properties valueless by granting franchises to competing 
railroads. Finally, in 1873, after years of agitation and bitter- 
ness, an amendment to the constitution was adopted pro- 
hibiting the legislature for all time from paying any of these 
compromised debts, particularly that of the Wabash and 
Erie Canal. 

Of all the vast projects undertaken by the state, the 
Madison and Indianapolis railroad alone was fully cornpleted, 
its completion being accomplished by the assignee company 
to which the state surrendered it. It was the first railroad 
built to Indianapolis, its entrance into that city signalizing 
the year 1847. The Wabash and Erie Canal was completed 
as far as Lafayette, and w^as extensively patronized by 
the people having surplus products to transport, but the 
receipts from tolls were not sufficient to maintain it, much 
less produce dividends to apply on cost of construction. 
The White Water Canal was completed from Lawrenceburg 
on the Ohio River to Connersville, and its facilities for 
transportation purposes availed of by the people for many 
years. 

State's Undertaking not Wholly Unadvised. It would be 
very unfair for the people of this day, enjoying all of their 
wonderful facilities for travel and commerce and trade, to 
say that the vast undertakings of 1836 were wholly unad- 
vised. The question of '' internal improvements " was one 
of the great issues of the day, not only in Indiana but in other 
states, and in the country at large. The Erie Canal in New 
York, constructed at a cost of $7,000,000, had proved itself 
a paying investment, and of vast benefit in facilitating travel, 
in reducing freight rates and in settling up the country. And 



130 PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

there were manj^ other examples of profitable canal con- 
struction to be held up before the people by the early '30's. 
The work was not taken up hastily in Indiana, or without 
discussion. The need was great, and the people, thoroughly 
in earnest, thought they were prepared for whatever sacrifice 
was necessary to meet it. The issue had been before them 
for a decade or more. They could not foresee the panic con- 
ditions which set in in 1837, nor the early development 
of the modern railroad. In spite of the panic and the 
financial breakdown on the part of the state, most of the 
system of improvements planned would have been com- 
pleted eventually, and to the incalculable benefit of the 
state, had it not been for the coming of the railroads. 
These early made the canals useless, or practically so, as 
their competition was impotent against the more rapid 
means of transit, and their construction ceased, or rather 
was not resumed. 

The Surplus Revenue Fund. In 1836 the United States 
treasury found itself overburdened with a large surplus fund, 
for which there was no immediate or prospective need. The 
national debt had been extinguished, and there was no other 
demand to be met outside of the ordinary running expenses 
of the government. Hence, the question arose as to what 
should be done with the surplus. After much discussion 
Congress decided, by an act approved June 23, 1836, to 
deposit all the fund but $5,000,000 with the several states, 
proportioning it among them on the basis of their representa- 
tion in Congress. The total amount to be thus distributed, 
in four equal installments, Avas $37,468,859. Three of the 
installments were paid to the various states, but before the 
fourth was due the panic of 1837 had paralyzed the govern- 
ment revenues, and no further distribution was ever made. 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 131 

Indiana's share of the fund actually distributed amounted to 
$806,254.44.1 

It was clearly the intention of the government that this 
transaction should be considered merely in the nature of a 
deposit of funds with the states, and that repayment would 
be required, but three quarters of a century have passed 
without any demand being made. And although the dis- 
tribution was not an equitable one, when all sections of the 
country are considered, it is unlikely, after such a lapse of 
time, that Congress will ever exact repayment. 

By an act of the legislature of 1837 it was directed that 
one half of Indiana's portion of this ''surplus revenue fund" 
be distributed among the counties, in proportion to the enu- 
meration of male citizens twenty-one years of age and over, 
in amounts not to exceed $400 to any one individual, at 
eight per cent interest, and the other half invested in stock 
of the state bank. The interest on the loans, and the divi- 
dends on the bank stock, were to be turned into the common 
school fund. 

Owing to the fact that the first two installments went to 
the counties and the fourth was never paid, the fund was 
not equally divided, the counties receiving $537,502.96, and 
the bank $268,751.48. Of the latter sum $40,000 was used 
to pay interest on internal improvement bonds, and of the 
portion distributed to the counties a large percentage was 

1 D. H. Montgomery, in his Student's American History, says of the trans- 
action: "It was styled a 'deposit,' but it was practically a gift. . . . Some 
states divided their share of the money among the whole population, each 
person getting a few shillings ; others used the money to begin great systems 
of roads, canals, and similar public improvements. These works were seldom 
carried to completion, and generally ended by piling up a heavy state debt. 
A few states still hold and use the income of the money." All of which 
would indicate that Indiana, by investing her share for the benefit of her 
schools, is one among the very few states makmg a wise use of a government 
bounty so unwisely bestowed. 



132 PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

lost through l)ad loans, carelessness in enforcing collections, 
and depression in values of mortgages and other securities 
resulting from the panic of 1837. The portion recovered was 
turned over to the state bank in 1841, and this, and the 
original investment in stock of the bank proved so fortunate, 
yielding large and certain dividends, that the fund more than 
restored itself. With the closing of the state bank in 1859 
the money was transferred to the state treasury, and rein- 
vested through the counties for the benefit of the schools. 
It now constitutes a very important item of the state's mag- 
nificent common school endowment. 

The State Bank of Indiana. The state bank of Indiana, 
which proved to be a most successful and stable institution, 
was chartered in 1834. The charter provided for the estab- 
lishment of twelve branches, and the thirteenth was later 
added. The capital stock authorized was $1,600,000, of 
which the state agreed to subscribe one half. It had a com- 
plete monopoly, as no other banks ' were permitted to operate 
in the state. During the panic of 1837 it was compelled to 
suspend specie payment temporarily, but resumed in 1842, 
and from that date until its charter expired in 1859 it never 
failed to meet all demands upon it, and enjoyed the reputa- 
tion of being one of the best managed and most reliable 
Ijanking institutions in the West. 

Issue of State Scrip; "Red Dog" and ''Blue Pup" Cur- 
rency; Days of "Wildcat" Money. During the stress of its 
difficulties attendant upon the collapse of the internal 
improvement system, and the general panic which enveloped 
the whole country, Indiana was compelled in 1839 to resort 
to the expedient of issuing state scrip. The entire extent 
of such issue amounted to 81,500,000. It bore six per cent 
interest and was receivable for taxes, but rapidly depreci- 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 133 

ated until its market value was only forty to fifty cents on 
the dollar. It was printed on red paper, and the people 
derisively called it " red dog" currency. It was finally 
redeemed, and was worth a large premium at the last, due 
partly to the restoration of confidence in the financial integ- 
rity of the state and partly to the accumulated interest. 

Before the panic was over merchants, plank-road contrac- 
tors and others, resorted to the issuance of private scrip. 
It is needless to say that its circulating value also quickly 
fell below par, and taking their cue from the fact that it was 
printed mostly on blue paper, the people called it " blue 
pup " currency, as distinguished from the state's " red dog " 
currency. Much of the private scrip was redeemable only in 
trade, or merchandise, or toll on the plank roads. The state 
was flooded with ''wildcat" currency in the form of depre- 
ciated paper put out by " banks of issue " in surrounding 
states, which drove good money out of circulation. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR WALLACE (1837-1840) 

Wallace First to Appoint Day of Thanksgiving. David 
Wallace was elected governor in August, 1837, and served 
one term. He assumed the responsibility of the governor's 
office just in time to receive upon his shoulders the brunt of 
the disasters that had overtaken his state through the panic, 
and the collapse of the internal improvement projects of his 
two immediate predecessors. He found the state debt over 
$18,000,000, and carrying an annual interest charge of more 
than $200,000, with no way to meet it except by sale of 
bonds. Notwithstanding all this Governor Wallace was the 
first chief executive of Indiana to appoint a day of thanks- 
giving — probably on the theory that the people should be 
thankful that matters were no worse. 

Moore, Ind. — 9 



134 PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR BIGGER (1840-1843) 

Samuel Bigger served one term as governor, from 1840 to 
1843. His administration was a continuation of the gloom 
following the events just narrated. 

Memorable Campaign of 1840. The summer and fall of 
1840 were made memorable in Indiana by the great Harrison- 
Van Buren campaign for the Presidency. General William 
Henry Harrison, the Whig candidate, had served as governor 
of Indiana Territory; he was the hero of the battle of Tippe- 
canoe, fought on Indiana soil, and his home was at North 
Bend, Ohio, only a few miles from the Indiana line. So in 
many ways he seemed very close to the people of the state, 
and they championed his cause with an enthusiasm scarcely 
equalled elsewhere. One of the biggest meetings of the 
whole campaign was held on the Tippecanoe battleground, 
near Lafayette. The Whig slogan was '' Old Tippecanoe 
and Tyler too," John Tyler being the candidate for Vice 
President. Then the opposition had referred sneeringly to 
the fact that Harrison lived in a log cabin and drank hard 
cider, and this was also turned to account by his friends. 
He was not only ''Old Tippecanoe," but he became the 
''Log Cabin" and " Hard Cider" candidate, and a popular 
idol generally. The campaign is memorable for its great 
parades, barbecues, public speakings and debates, as well as 
for the log cabin, coon skin and hard cider floats, and the 
campaign songs, which especially characterized it. Harrison 
received Indiana's electoral vote, and was elected President. 
The state had also given him its electoral vote in 1836, but 
in that year he went down in defeat. 

General Harrison died a month after his inauguration, 
being worried to death, it was popularly believed, by office 
seekers. 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 135 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR WHITCOMB (1843-1848) 

Governor Resigns and is Succeeded by Lieutenant 
Governor. James Whitcomb, politically a democrat, became 
governor in 1843, having defeated Governor Bigger for his 
second term, and was reelected in 1846. He resigned in 
1848, to accept election to the United States Senate, and 
Lieutenant Governor Paris C. Dunning became acting 
governor, serving out the unexpired term. 

It was during Governor Whitcomb's administration that 
the compromise with the state's creditors was arrived at, 
whereby the Wabash and Erie Canal, together with the canal 
lands granted by the government, and other rights and fran- 
chises, were transferred in discharge of one half the state's 
indebtedness, and new bonds, at a lower rate of interest, 
issued for the remaining half. With this settlement confi- 
dence was restored, and the panic having spent its force, 
prosperity began gradually to return. 

THE MEXICAN WAR 

Causes and Political Significance ; Reasons for Opposition. 

There was much opposition in Indiana, as well as in many of 
the other northern states, to the war with Mexico. But 
when called upon, the state furnished her full quota of troops, 
consisting of five regiments, comprising 4470 officers and men. 
The causes leading to this war may be briefly stated. In 
1835 Texas seceded from Mexico, and by defeating the Mexi- 
can armies in the brief war which followed, established her 
independence. The movement for independence was un- 
doubtedly instigated largely by American citizens who had 
settled in Texas, and once free from Mexican rule, the next 
thing they most desired was annexation to the United States. 
Southern politicians were also very desirous that annexation 



136 PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

be brought about, mainly in order that slaveholding territory 
might be extended and Southern and proslavery represen- 
tation in Congress increased. The people of the North, on 
the other hand, did not desire the area of slave territory 
extended or the proslavery influence in Congress strength- 
ened by the addition of new representatives and senators 
from the South. Then there was a feeling that Mexico was' 
being crowded into a war through motives of territorial 
aggrandizement on the part of the American government, 
dominated by Southern members of Congress. 

To take sides against one's own country in an international 
quarrel, however, is seldom a popular thing to do. Thomas 
Corwin of Ohio, then a senator, and one of the ablest men the 
country has produced, denounced the war in a great speech 
in the United States Senate as a war of conquest for the 
spread of slavery. But his historic declaration that if he 
were a Mexican he would greet the American invaders with 
bloody hands and welcome them, to hospitable graves, 
sounded the death knell of his popularity. The attitude of too 
many patriotic people, even though they may have scruples 
on the matter of issues leading to war, can be summed up in 
the toast enunciated in later years: '' My country ! Ma}^ it 
ever be right, but right or wrong, my country." 

Texas was annexed and admitted into the Union as a state 
in 1845. Her western boundary was not well defined, a wide 
strip of territory being claimed by both Texas and Mexico. 
Immediately after the act of annexation, an '' army of occu- 
pation," under General Zachary Taylor, was sent to take 
possession of the disputed territory. Collisions with the 
Mexicans soon followed, and upon the first news of bloodshed 
President Polk issued a proclamation declaring that war 
existed " by the acts of Mexico." 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 137 

Issues of the War Soon Decided. Tlie battles of Palo 
Alto and Resaca de la Palma followed in rapid succession, 
and the Mexicans were driven across the Rio Grande. The 
advantage was followed up vigorously, and a successful inva- 
sion of Mexico begun which ended in her complete subjuga- 
tion and a treaty of peace, the terms of which were dictated 
by the United States. 

Indiana Troops Inexperienced ; Unfriendly Criticism. Very 
few of the Indiana troops had ever seen service, or received 
military training of any kind. Even their officers were volun- 
teers. They were thus at a great disadvantage when com- 
pared with some others, especially the Southern troops, who 
were well drilled and trained, and generally officered by West 
Point graduates or experienced soldiers. But they performed 
gallant service and won high commendation, with one lamen- 
table exception. This was at the battle of Buena Vista, 
February 22, 1847, when the second regiment under Colonel 
William A. Bowles broke and fled from the field. Although 
he entered a vehement denial, there seems little doubt that 
Colonel Bowles ordered the retreat. Much was made of 
the circumstance of the retreat by unfriendly critics, and 
Indiana long rested under a military stigma as a conse- 
quence. Jefferson Davis, who commanded a Mississippi 
regiment, and afterwards became President of the Southern 
Confederacy, reflected seriously upon the Indiana regiment 
when making a report of the operations of his own command. 

In this battle the second Indiana, supporting a small 
battery of artillery, occupied a position far in advance of the 
other American troops and was exposed to a heavy fire of 
musketry and artillery. In the hope of finding a more shel- 
tered position, although nearer the enemy, General Lane 
ordered a still further advance. The battery moved forward 



138 PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

to the new position, but the infantry wheeled to left and right 
and hurried from the field. About two hundred of these 
afterwards rallied and reentered the battle, assisting gallantly 
in the final repulse of the Mexicans. Those who did not 
return to the front joined in defense of the trains in the rear. 
But no service they could afterwards render would wipe out 
the disgrace of having retired during the storm of battle, 
while others stood firm. It is true that the position in which 
they found themselves at the time of the retreat was most 
perilous. General Taylor, referring to the episode in his 
report, declared that the second regiment was '' exposed not 
only to a severe fire of small arms from the front, but also 
to a murderous cross fire of grape and canister from a Mexican 
battery on the left." 

GOVERNOR W^RIGHT's ADMINISTRATION (1849-1857) 

The New Constitution. Joseph A. Wright was elected 
governor in 1849, and reelected in 1852, his second term being 
under the new constitution, and therefore for four years. 

Feeling that the state had outgrown its first constitution, 
and the need of many changes being apparent, the people 
voted affirmatively in 1850 upon a proposition to call a 
constitutional convention. The convention convened at 
Indianapolis, October 7, 1850, and continued in session 
until February 10, 1851. It was composed of one hun- 
dred and fifty delegates, and the wisdom of their work in 
framing a new constitution is generall}- recognized. The 
constitution framed and adopted by the convention was 
later ratified by the people at the polls, and became the 
fundamental law of the state. It went into effect Novem- 
ber 1, 1851. The vote upon its adoption stood 109,319 ayes, 
and 26,755 nays. A separate ballot was taken on the thir- 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 139 

teenth article, which resulted in its adoption by substan- 
tially the same vote. 

Discriminations against the Negro. The thirteenth 
article forbade the coming into the state of any negro or 
mulatto, made contracts entered into with any such void, 
and provided fines against citizens who should employ or 
otherwise encourage negroes to remain in the state. Fines 
so assessed were to be set aside as a fund for colonizing any 
negroes already in the state, or their descendants, who should 
be willing to emigrate. This article was stricken out by an 
amendment ratified by vote of the people in 1881. 

The new constitution also limited the suffrage to white 
voters, and provided that only white males over the age of 
twenty-one years should be considered in fixing the basis of 
representation in the general assembly. By amendments 
adopted in 1881 the word " white " was stricken out wherever 
it appeared in the constitution, thus ending discrimination 
between the races, and admitting the negro to the franchise 
and full rights of citizenship. 

Important Changes Made by the New Constitution. 
Among the important changes made by the new constitution 
from the provisions of the old were: The power of appointing 
supreme court judges was taken from the governor, and all 
judicial officers were made elective by the people; the secre- 
tary, treasurer and auditor of state were made elective by 
the people instead of by the legislature; sessions of the legis- 
lature were made biennial instead of annual; the legislature 
was forbidden to pass local or special laws; a system of 
general banking laws was provided for and the state pro- 
hibited from becoming a stockholder in any banking or other 
corporation. 

Passing of Old Methods of Banking. With the winding 



140 PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

up of the affairs of the " bank of the state " in 1865, which 
institution had been chartered by the legislature in 1857, 
the old regime of banking methods had passed.^ Under our 
present system of national banks, and state institutions sub- 
ject to strict regulation and examination, minus all powers 
of " issuing bills of credit, or bills payable to order or bearer, 
except under the conditions prescribed " in the constitution, 
the days of irresponsible and wildcat banking are happily 
at an end. 

Important School Legislation. Some excellent school laws 
enacted by the legislature of 1852 were declared unconsti- 
tutional by the Supreme Court, on the alleged grounds of 
lack of uniformity in operation. Practically the same laws, 
with important additions, were reenacted in 1865, and 
became the foundation for our present splendid educational 
system. 

Progress of Temperance Legislation. Governor Wright's 
administration was signalized by a great temperance agita- 
tion. Several local and special acts dealing with the liquor 
traffic were passed by the legislature of 1850, and in 1853 a 
general law, with local option features, was enacted. This 
latter fell under the condemnation of the courts on grounds 
of unconstitutionality, and the people, already impatient be- 
cause of the evils of the traffic, seemed especially provoked 
at the result. So in 1854, rallying all the temperance forces 
of the state, and uniting all elements of opposition to the 
democratic party, which at its convention had declared 
against temperance legislation, the temperance people suc- 
ceeded in electing a full state and legislative ticket on a 
prohibition platform. The enthusiasm was tremendous. 

1 This bank should not be confused with the "State Bank of Indiana," 
whose charter expired in 1859. 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 141 

And when the legislature met in 1855 it proceeded to pass 
a state-wide prohibition law, and the governor, though a 
democrat, signed it. But before the task of putting it in 
operation had proceeded very far this law also was declared 
unconstitutional by the supreme court. 

Largely because of the overshadowing importance now 
assumed by the slavery question the temperance agitation 
gradually subsided; but it never entirely ceased. Through 
spasmodic movements of different kinds, and the continuous 
efforts of temperance societies and parties, the agitation has 
been kept continually before the people for more than a 
hundred years. It began before the days of statehood. The 
evils of intemperance were especially marked in its influence 
upon the Indians. They would barter anything they pos- 
sessed for the white man's " fire water," and it not only 
affected their temper, making them troublesome and dan- 
gerous to deal with, but destroyed them physically. Stronger 
temperance documents than the messages and state papers 
of some of the early governors would be hard to find. 

GOVERNOR WILLARD's ADMINISTRATION (1857-1860) 

r^Governor Willard's Service Closed by Death. Ashbel P. 
Willard, democrat, was elected governor at the fall election 
of 1856, and assumed the duties of his office in January, 1857. 
He died as the result of a lingering illness on the 3d of 
October, 1860, and Lieutenant Governor Abram A. Ham- 
mond succeeded him as acting governor, serving out the 
unexpired term. 

Willard's opponent in the election was Oliver P. Morton, 
the first gubernatorial candidate of the newly organized 
republican party. The new party's platform was " free 
men and free soil." Both Willard and Morton were orators 



142 PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 

of great talent, and they made the campaign memorable by 
a series of joint debates. Morton, himself formerly a demo- 
crat, was really the organizer of the republican party in the 
state. 

Slavery Question to the Fore; Legislature Fails to Make 
Appropriations. Slavery had now become the all-pervading 
topic of discussion, and the legislature of 1857 was so hope- 
lessly divided on the various partisan questions growing out 
of it, that the members were unable to work together har- 
moniously on any subject. The session was wasted in bitter 
wranglings, and adjourned without passing an appropriation 
bill to meet the obligations of the state or defray the expenses 
of the state government. Governor Willard borrowed money 
to pay interest charges on the state debt, upon his faith that 
the legislature at its next session would reimburse the lend- 
ers, but the state institutions were compelled to close. 

It fell to the duty of this legislature to elect two United 
States senators. The democrats had a majority on joint 
ballot, but could not muster a quorum within their own 
membership, and the republicans refused to meet with them in 
joint assembly for the election of senators. The democrats 
finally met separately and elected Jesse D. Bright and Gra- 
ham N. Fitch. The next legislature, which was republican, 
declared this election illegal, and proceeded to elect Henry S. 
Lane and William M. IVIcCarty. The United States Senate, 
then democratic, seated the democratic contestants, although 
Stephen A. Douglas and two other democratic senators voted 
with the republicans. A special session was called in 1858 
which made necessary appropriations. 

Signs of the Times ; Why States Were Admitted in Pairs ; 
Causes for Northern Indignation. By this time thoughtful 
men were beginning to discern the war cloud hovering upon 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 143 

the national horizon, and to sense the distant though ominous 
rumblings of the coming storm. 

For many years new states coming into the Union had 
been, as far as practicable, admitted in pairs, in order to 
maintain the balance of power in Congress between the sec- 
tions holding different views on the slavery question. But 
by 1850 the Southern territory out of which new states could 
be erected was about exhausted, and the North was fast 
outstripping the South in population and wealth, facts which 
account largely for the fierce determination of Southern and 
slaveholding politicians to force the institution of slavery 
upon the new western states knocking at the door of the 
Union. Kansas and Nebraska were forever free territory 
under the terms of the Missouri Compromise, yet by the 
''Kansas-Nebraska Act" of 1854 it was left to the people 
of those territories to decide for themselves whether they 
should come into the Union as free or slave states.^ This 
was reopening a question that had already been settled, sim- 
ply in order that the slavery advocates might have another 
chance, and the people of the North were justly indignant. 
Then frequent exhibitions of brutality in enforcing the Fugi- 
tive Slave Law of 1850 helped inflame public opinion, and 
brought home to the people of the North in a most realistic 
manner the shameless evils of the slave traffic. Theretofore 
stories of pursuit and recapture of black people fleeing for 
their liberty had borne a far-away and legendary character, 
biit with the operation of the Fugitive Slave Law, they 
became a dreadful reality. 

The signs of the times could also be read in the division of 
the great Protestant church organizations into Northern and 

1 Tliis was " squatter sovereignty, ' ' of which so much was heard in the 
current discussions of those davs. 



144 PROGRESS UMJER STATEHOOD 

Southern confere'uces and presbyteries, the reahgnment of 
pohtical parties, the crystaUization of opposing pubhc senti- 
ment in the different sections, and finally the Southern intima- 
tions of disunion, which gradually became louder and bolder. 

New Partisan Alignments; Birth of Republican Party. 
The old Whig party had practically gone out of existence, 
and was succeeded by the Know Nothing party, whose prin- 
cipal creed was opposition to foreign-born citizens and the 
Roman Catholic church. It won some local successes in a 
few states, but subsisting mainly upon prejudice and sus- 
picion, it was too narrow for permanency or usefulness. In 
1854 there was an organization know^n simply as the ''Anti- 
Nebraska men," who carried a sufficient number of congres- 
sional elections to give them control of the national House 
of Representatives. This in reality was the beginning of the 
republican party, which put its first ticket in the field in 1856, 
headed by John C. Fremont as its candidate for President. 

The attitude of the new party was opposition to the further 
extension of slavery, and its rapid growth and sudden acces- 
sion to power at the moment of the nation's crisis is one of 
the political phenomena of our history. 

John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry occurred October 16, 
1859, and from that date until the flames of war actually 
burst forth, popular excitement was at fever heat. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR OLIVER P. MORTON 

(1861-1867) 

p" Historic *' Deal " that Made Morton Governor. Henry 

' S. Lane was chosen governor in November, 1860, assumed 
office January 14, 1861, and resigned three days later to ac- 
cept election to the United States Senate. Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor Oliver P. Morton at once assumed the duties of gover- 



PROGRESS UNDER STATEHOOD 



145 



nor, and served out the term for which Lane had been elected. 
He then became his own successor by election in 1864. 

The sending of Lane to the senate, and permitting Morton 
immediately to become governor, was merely the carrying 
out of a preelection agreement made contingent upon the 
success of the republi- 
can party. ^'^ In 1867, 
after he had completed 
his remarkable record, 
and securely estab- 
lished his renown as 
Indiana's great war 
governor, Morton him- 
self was elected to the 
United States Sen- 
ate, leaving Lieuten- 
ant Governor Conrad 
Baker to complete his 
term. 

The unsuccessful 
candidates for gover- 
nor and lieutenant 
governor on the dem- 
ocratic ticket in 1860 Oliver p. Morton 
were Thomas A. Hendricks and David Turpie. 

1 Morton was very much dissatisfied with this arrangement, j^ referring 
to go to the Senate himself. Yet Lane was scarcely heard of in the Senate, 
while the governorship enabled Morton to perform invaluable services to his 
state and the nation, and determined his fame for all time. In his Life of 
Morton, W. D. Foulke relates that Morton voiced his preference at the 
time to one of his good old Quaker friends. "Oliver, we can't let thee 
go to the Senate," the Quaker replied. "Why not?" asked Morton. 
" Because thee is a good man for either of these places, and Henry Lane 
would make a good senator, but he would not make a good governor. So 
he inust go to the Senate and thee must stay and be governor." 




CHAPTER XII 



(ca 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

Election of Abraham Lincoln; Secession. The national 
campaign of 1860 was marked by miusual excitement, and 

bitterness, because of 
issues growing out of 
tlie slavery question. 
The great democratic 
party was hopelessly 
divided, and had three 
sets of candidates for 
President and Vice 
President in the field. 
The new republican 
party, on its platform 
of opposition to the ex- 
tension of slavery, was 
headed by Abraham 
Lincoln of Illinois. 
This party was sue- , 
cessful, and Mr. Lincoln ) 
was elected. The elec- 
tion occurred early in 
November, and on the 
20th of December South Carolina adopted an ordinance of 
secession, which was the first open step in fulfillment of the 
Southern threat of disunion. March 4, 1861, was the date 
of the presidential succession, and until that time James 

146 




Abraham Lincoln 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 147 

Buchanan continued in the Presidency. He seemed be- 
wildered and helpless, not knowing what to do or which way 
to turn. In a message to Congress he took the position that 
a state had no right to secede, yet the government had no 
power under the constitution to prevent it from doing so, or 
to compel it to return to its allegiance. 

By February 1, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, 
Louisiana and Texas had also passed ordinances of secesssion, 
and open preparations for war were being made in the South. 
Still the administration did nothing, or such action as it did 
take was in the interests of the Southern cause. The secre- 
tary of war, Southern in his sympathies, issued quiet orders 
transferring government arms to Southern arsenals, and the 
few vessels in our little navy were scattered to remote points, 
so they could not be got together readily for concerted action 
in case of emergency. Many of the regiments of the regular 
army were also disposed with a view to the South's advan- 
tage in the event of conflict, and Southern officers were in 
command. 

Concern for the Country's Welfare. In the North the 
minds of thoughtful people were filled with grave concern 
for the country's welfare, and yet there were wide differences 
of opinion as to what ought to be done, or could be done. 
The thought of war was abhorrent, and its possibility scarcely 
entertained. Many looked upon the action of South Caro- 
lina as mere bluff and flurry, and believed she would presently 
return to her rightful place in the Union. Others affected 
to believe the country would be the gainer if she were allowed 
to go, asserting that she had long been a disturber in the 
family of states. There were those who advocated coercion 
of the seceding states into obedience to the laws, while others 
were willing to ^' let the erring sisters go in peace." 



148 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

Voice Raised for the Union. In the midst of indecision, 
and the failure of the people generally to grasp the appalling 
significance of the events that were transpiring, and of the 
danger menacing the very life of the Republic, a clarion note 
was sounded in Indiana, which brought the country to atten- 
tion. It was a challenge to patriotic citizens to face the 
truth, unwelcome though it be, and prepare for the stern 
duties of war, if necessary, to save the Union. 

The voice was that of Oliver P. Morton, in an address 
delivered at Indianapolis, November 22, 1860. He asked the 
question: " What is coercion but the enforcement of the law?" 
And after a masterly discussion of the relations of the indi- 
vidual states to the Union, and of the powers and duties of 
the President in maintaining the authority of the govern- 
ment, he made use of these historic words: '' If South Carolina 
gets out of the Union, I trust it will be at the point of the 
bayonet, after our best efforts have failed to compel her to 
submission to the laws. Better concede her independence 
to force, to revolution, than to right and principle. Such a 
concession cannot be drawn into a precedent and construed 
into an admission that we are but a combination of petty 
states, any one of which has a right to secede and set up for 
herself whenever it suits her temper or views of peculiar 
interest. . . . Shall we now surrender the nation without a 
struggle, and let the Union go with merely a few hard words ? 
If it was worth a bloody struggle to establish this nation, it 
is worth one to preserve it. . . . We must then cling to the 
idea that we are a nation, one and indivisible, and that, 
although subdivided by state lines for local and domestic 
purposes, we are but one people, the citizens of a common 
country, having like institutions and manners, and possessing 
a common interest in that inheritance of glory so richly pro- 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 149 

vided by our fathers. We must therefore do no act, we must 
tolerate no act, we must concede no idea or theory that looks 
to or involves the dismemberment of the nation." 

The effect of this speech was to send a patriotic inspiration 
throughout the entire North, and from that moment a firm 
purpose to save the Union at any cost began to take_form.__y 

In his inaugural address on the 4th of March, 1861, Presi- 
dent Lincoln plainly indicated his purpose to enforce the 
laws, and placed the responsibility for civil war, should that 
dreadful calamity befall, where it rightfully belonged. " In 
your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen, and not in mine," 
he eloquently declared, '^ is the momentous issue of civil war. 
You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the govern- 
ment, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, 
protect and defend it." 

How the News of Sumter Was Received in Indiana. 
But there was no abatement of warlike activities in the South, 
and on the 12th of April, 1861, the attack upon Fort 
Sumter, in Charleston harbor, took place. ^ With the spread 

1 The effect upon the people of Indiana of the news of the firing upon 
Fort Sumter is best described in a quotation from The Soldier of Indiana, 
by Catherine Merrill. "Through the long Saturday that followed, business 
was at a standstill ; business houses were closed, and men with clenched fists 
and high beating hearts stood on the street corners and at the doors of 
telegraph offices. That night from the knobs of the Ohio to the sand hills 
of Lake Michigan, from Quaker towns in the eastern border to the prairie 
farms of the western line, the streets of Indiana were black with breathless 
multitudes still waiting the tidings of the seventy loyal men in an unfurnished 
fort, bombarded by ten thousand raging rebels. When the banner appeared, 
the banner which within the memory of the present generation had only 
idly fluttered in holiday breezes, a new meaning seemed to stream from its 
folds; hats were taken off, as in the presence of something sacred ; and shouts 
beginning, it might be, brokenly and in tears, rose and swelled, and made 
walls and skies resound. At ten o'clock a dispatch was announced. 'Sum- 
ter has fallen.' Young men, and men in middle life, looked at white faces 
and wet eyes of old and venerable citizens, who stood in the street waiting 
for tidings, and a great stillness fell upon all. They turned to separate and 
Moore, Ind. — 10 



150 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

of the news that the fiiig had been fired upon, and an overt 
act of war committed against the government, apathy and 
hesitation disappeared. Thousands volunteered their ser- 
vices for mihtary duty, and the government was urged to 
active measures of war. On the morning of April 15 Gover- 
nor Morton, on behalf of the state of Indiana, telegraphed 
President Lincoln an offer of ten thousand men. On that 
same day the President's proclamation calling for seventy- 
five thousand volunteers was issued. 

Military Prospects in the State. W. H. Smith in his his- 
tory describes the situation in Indiana at that time, with 
reference to military prospects: '' Indiana had been a mem- 
ber of the Union but forty-five years; it had a population of 
1,300,000, scattered all over the state, most of them engaged 
in agricultural pursuits. It had no cities. Indianapolis was 
little more than a straggling village in the forest. The last 
of the Indians had been removed only twenty-four years 
before, so Indiana was still, in 1860, practically a frontier 
state. In its earlier years it had been necessary to maintain 
a militia, which had been continued until 1830, when there 
were enrolled about 52,000 men. The system then died and 
the arms were scattered and lost. During the war with 
Mexico, five regiments had been raised and sent to the field. 

creep silently to their homes Another dispatch: ' Mr. Lincoln will issue a 
proclamation to-morrow calling for seventy-five thousand volunteers.' 
Cheer upon cheer, roar upon roar responded The white-faced old men 
grew red; they stamped, pounded, wept, roared with the loudest, wiklest 
and maddest." 

Goodrich savs in his history : " The following Sabbath was a memorable 
one in the history of Indiana. The country's cause was the theme at 
churches; it was in the prayers, in the sermons, and in the songs. Every- 
where, in every city, town and village of the state, the blessing of the God 
of Nations was invoked upon the President of the United States, and upon 
the Union," 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 151 

With the return of peace, the miUtary spirit had once more 
disappeared." 

Indiana Responds with Men and Means; Morton's Mes- 
sage to the Legislature ; a Marvelous Record. Nevertheless, 
upon the pubhcation of the President's proclamation, and 
the governor's call for enlistments to fill Indiana's quota, 
the state was aroused into a busy hum of military ardor and 
preparation. Public meetings were held, recruiting stations 
opened, and the shrill note of the fife was borne on every 
breeze. In the face of the common duty, party lines, and 
other minor differences among the people were forgotten. 
Unhappily, however, such a state of harmony did not con- 
tinue throughout the war. 

The state fair grounds were transformed into a soldiers' 
camp, and within ten days more than twelve thousand men 
had reported at Indianapolis ready for service. The state's 
quota was only 4,683. Governor Morton almost immediately 
telegraphed the President an offer of six additional regiments, 
but the government, not yet realizing the serious need it 
would soon experience, did not accept them. It is only fair 
to say, however, that the government lacked the where- 
withal to arm and equip even the few soldiers received 
under the first call. Its military establishment was small; 
it had few guns and few munitions, and there was a dearth 
of experienced leaders. Besides, the national treasury was 
nearly empty. The defenseless condition in which the 
country found itself at the beginning of the war was both 
disgraceful and pitiable. 

Governor Morton had called a special session of the legis- 
lature, and it convened at Indianapolis, on the 24th of April, 
1861. His message, transmitted on the opening day, was a 
remarkable state paper. It read in part: " We have passed 



152 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

from the field of argument to the solemn fact of war, which 
exists by the act of the seceding states. The issue is forced 
upon us, and must be accepted. Every man must take his 
position upon the one side or the other. In time of war 
there is no ground upon which a third party can stand. . . . 
The struggle is one into which we enter with the deepest 
reluctance. We are bound to the people of the seceding 
states by the dearest ties of blood and institutions. They 
are our brothers, and our fellow countrymen. But if they 
regard not those tender relations, how can we ? . . . The 
events of the last ten days are pregnant with instruction 
and moral grandeur. They present the action of a people 
who have suffered much and waited long; who were slow to 
take offense, and incredulous of treason and danger; but who, 
when the dread appeal to arms was made, and the issue could 
no longer be avoided with honor or safety, promptly aban- 
doned the peaceful pursuits of life and devoted themselves 
to the service of their country. . . . Without distinction of 
party, condition or occupation, men have rallied around the 
nation's standard, and in every part of the state may be 
heard the sound of martial music and witnessed the muster- 
ing of companies into the field." 

The general assembly was in entire harmony with the 
governor. It appropriated two million dollars with which 
to arm and equip troops and put the state on a war footing. 
Provision was made for an issue of bonds, and a new 
militia law was enacted. A few days later the governor 
sent agents to the East to purchase arms and equipage for 
the Indiana volunteers. Robert Dale Owen visited Europe 
on a like mission from the governor. 

As the war progressed, the government's calls for men 
grew in frequency, and the numbers asked were larger in 



/A7>/.1A^A',S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 153 

nearly every successive call, but Indiana was always ready 
with her quota at the appointed time. Toward the last a 
very limited number of men had to be supplied by drafts. 
Otherwise all were volunteers. And a braver, more devoted 
body of men never fought in any cause. The value of their 
services to the Union in the time of her fearful need could 
not well be overestimated, and from first to last they reflected 
high honor upon their home state by their gallantry upon the 
field and the patience and fortitude with which they bore 
untold hardships and faced dangers and death. Indiana's 
soldiery participated in more than three hundred battles, 
and shed their blood in every state touched by the strife 
of that dreadful war. 

From first to last the state furnished to the national ser- 
vice the enormous total of 196,649 men. Of this number 
11,718 reenlisted as veterans, bringing the total enlistments 
up to 208,367. In addition there were enlisted 51,400 men 
for home defense, making a grand total, not counting the 
reenlistments, of 248,049 men, drawn from a meager and 
scattered population at that time of 1,350,000.^ The pro- 
portion of soldiers to the population furnished by Indiana in 
the Civil war was greater than that supplied by France dur- 
ing Napoleon's great wars against all Europe. 

Caring for the Soldiers in the Field; the Sanitary 
Commission. No state in the Union exercised more kindly 
concern for her soldiers in the field than did Indiana. Gover- 
nor Morton was absolutely tireless and almost sleepless in 
his efforts to see that they were supplied with the very best 
arms and equipment, were comfortably clothed, and otherwise 

1 B. A. Gould, of the United States Sanitary Service, published the 
following remarkable bit of information in his report of statistics gathered 
during the war: " Indiana men are the tallest of all the natives of the United 
States, and these latter are the tallest of all civilized countries." 



15 1 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

cared for in every possible way. He sent extra surgeons and 
nurses, in addition to those provided by the government, to 
minister to them when sick' or wounded. He had special 
agents of the state among them at all times to ascertain and 
supply their needs, and many were the carloads of provisions 
and luxuries provided from " home " to cheer them in camp, 
on weary march and on the battlefield. He insisted upon 
bringing the sick and disabled to Indiana when practicable, 
to be nursed back to health. After the battle of Shiloh he 
chartered special steamers in which to bring the wounded 
Hoosier boys home. In the fall of 1861 he found the Indiana 
troops in West Virginia suffering for want of warm overcoats, 
and being unable to induce the government officials to act 
for their relief promptly as he wished, he contracted for 
nineteen thousand overcoats himself, and afterwards pre- 
vailed upon the government to pay for them. In addition 
to this he procured an order for ten thousand more, which 
were immediately furnished. 

In many other instances he provided clothing and neces- 
saries, and it was through his appeal that the patriotic women 
of the state first began their grand work of furnishing blank- 
ets, underwear, gloves, etc., for the comfort and protection of 
the soldiers in the field, and pads, bandages, lint, and dressing 
gowns for use in the hospitals. None but the men at the 
front, fighting the battles of their country, will ever be able 
to know what a benediction such remembrances were to 
them, and the work was the beginning of the great Sanitary 
Commission, which later became a national movement, and 
developed into the greatest relief agency ever inaugurated in 
time of war. 

Other states combined their sanitary commission work, but 
Indiana chose to keep her organization separate, and it 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 155 

received from donations, for the benefit of the soldier boys of 
the state, a total of $247,570 in cash and $359,000 in goods. 
In addition to this the counties and townships of the state 
contributed over $20,000,000 for bounties, and for the support 
of the soldiers' families at home. 

Hoosier Boys Fought on Every Field. It is impossible in 
a brief history to follow Indiana's more than two hundred 
thousand soldiers in this war in their regimental movements, 
and marches and battles. They fought in Kentucky and 
West Virginia, and in every confederate and border state 
where fighting took place. They were in the skirmishes, on 
the long marches, and in the Titanic struggles between divi- 
sions and army corps. Quoting from a speech by General 
Lew Wallace: " At Shiloh, Indiana had thirteen regiments; at 
Vicksburg she had twenty-four ; at Stone River, twenty-five ; 
at Chickamauga, twenty-seven; at Mission Ridge, twenty; 
in the advance from Chattanooga to Atlanta, fifty; at Atlanta 
Sherman divided them so that exactly twenty-five went with 
him down to the sea, while twenty-five marched back with 
Thomas and were in at the annihilation of Hood at Nash- 
ville, What a record is thus presented! Ask Grant, or 
Rosecrans or Sherman, if from the beginning to the end of 
the operations there was a day for which they could have 
spared these regiments." 

Indiana Extends Sheltering Wing over Kentucky; Death 
for Her Sons on " Dark and Bloody Ground;" Richmond 
and Murfordsville ; Perry ville. Throughout the war Indiana 
assumed a sort of guardianship over the destinies of Ken- 
tucky. Kentucky did not secede, but her attitude was 
unsteady and wavering. Her state government endeavored 
to maintain a so-called " armed neutrality," and to refrain 
from taking any part in the conflict. 



156 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

Governor Morton feared if the confederates were allowed 
to gain a foothold the state would be induced to join her 
fortunes with the Southern cause, and the war would thus 
be brought to the very threshold of Indiana. He repeatedly 
urged upon the government measures for the protection of 
Kentuck}^ and the grounds for this apprehension were soon 
amply justified by events. In August, 1862, General Bragg 
made a dash into Kentucky, entering from Tennessee. He 
divided his forces into two wings, directing one, under General 
E. Kirby Smith, to proceed to the capture of Cincinnati, wliile 
he planned to lead the other against Louisville. To frustrate 
these designs Indiana poured more than 30,000 troops into 
Kentucky within a month. During the campaigns which 
followed, disastrous battles were fought at Richmond, Mur- 
fordsville and Perryville, in which the newly recruited and 
insufficiently trained Indiana soldiers suffered severely. 

The battle of Richmond occurred August 30, 1862. 
General E. Kirby Smith commanded the confederates, while 
General Manson at first had charge of the Union forces, but 
was superseded by General Nelson before the close of the 
engagement. The result was disastrous, the Federal troops 
sustaining a • loss of more than two hundred killed, and 
fully two thousand captured. The Indiana soldiers, con- 
stituting the principal part of the Federal force in this 
battle, had been in the service but ten to twent}' daj's. They 
fought bravely, and if properly supported would have won a 
victory.^ 

At the Murfordsville engagement, September 16 and 17, 
1862, eight regiments and one battery were compelled to sur- 

1 General Boyle, who had charge of the campaign, said in his report: 
"Our troops, especially the Indianians, fought with the courage and gallan- 
try of veterans. If Ohio and Illinois had supported Indiana, and had sent 
their troops on, the issue of the battle would have been different." 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 157 

render. The Union troops were vastly outnumbered, but 
fought bravely. Colonel Dunbar was in command, having 
superseded Colonel Wilder. General Bragg was in personal 
command of the confederates. 

The battle of Perrj^ville occurred October 8, 1862, be- 
tween General Bragg's command and a part of General 
Buell's force. It was nominally a Union victory, but very 
costly in human lives. The loss amounted to about five 
hundred killed, Indiana troops again suffering severely. 
These disasters were charged to mismanagement on the part 
of General Buell, and the news was received in Indiana with 
sorrow and indignation. Buell was soon afterwards relieved 
of his command, being superseded by General Rosecrans. 

Protecting Cincinnati. A force of forty thousand men 
was assembled to protect Cincinnati, a large proportion of 
the troops being from Indiana, and General Lew Wallace, 
a distinguished Indiana soldier, was placed in command.^ 
Preparations to receive the confederates were quickly made, 
and were so complete that they halted and turned back. 
Bragg's designs against both Cincinnati and Louisville 
were thus effectually defeated, and largely through the ef- 
forts of Indiana, notwithstanding the unsatisfactory results 
of battles on the " Dark and Bloody Grounds " of Kentucky. 
The resistance offered served to check the enemy's progress 
and demoralize his plans. 

1 The danger of early investment b}- confederate troops was imminent, 
and the mayor of Cincinnati had telegraphed the governor of Ohio, at 
Columbus, asking for artillery. The latter replied, telling him to have the 
necessary requisition made out, and properly signed by the commanding 
general, and it would be duly honored. But the need was too urgent for 
the observance of official red tape, so the mayor telegraphed Governor 
Morton, from whom an answer was flashed back immediately, "One battery 
ready, with two carloads of ammunition. Will send another train in two 
hours." 



158 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

Marauding Raids Into Indiana From Kentucky. A num- 
ber of times small bands of marauders crossing the river from 
Kentucky committed depredations in Indiana. In July, 
1862, a band of about thirty guerrillas under Adam Johnson 
plundered Newburg, in Warrick County, and stole a quantity 
of small arms that had been stored at the hospital there. 
Soon after this Governor Morton sent a force across the river, 
which scoured the country about Henderson and scattered 
the guerrillas and outlaws that infested the region. In 
August another expedition was dispatched to Kentucky soil 
which performed valuable service. 

In June, 1863, Indiana was invaded from Kentucky by a 
band of about sixty confederates under the leadership of 
Captain Thomas H. Hines, a subordinate officer under Gen- 
eral John Morgan. They crossed the river not far from Can- 
nelton, and began a destructive raid through the country, 
stealing horses and plundering homes and stores. Detach- 
ments of the home guard, known as the " Indiana Legion, " 
were soon in pursuit, and the band was overtaken and " cor- 
nered " on Blue River Island, in the Ohio, as they were 
trying to get back into Kentucky. Hines escaped by swim- 
ming, but nearly all of his men were captured. 

John Morgan's Raid. In July of the same year (1863) 
John Morgan's great raid through Indiana and Ohio took 
place. He crossed the river from Brandenburg, Kentucky, 
on the 8th, with 2460 men and six guns. It is supposed that 
he was endeavoring to clear the way for another attempt by 
General Bragg to capture Louisville and Cincinnati. Then 
the confederate officials had been led by exaggerated claims 
put forward by the Knights of the Golden Circle and other 
disloyal organizations in the state to believe that the appear- 
ance of a confederate force north of the Ohio River would 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 159 

be accepted as a signal for an uprising against Governor 
Morton, and the Union cause generally, that would carry 
Indiana bodily into the Confederacy. The expectation was 
sadly disappointed, for when the test came not a Southern 
sympathizer dared raise his hand. 

Morgan took up his march in the direction of Corydon, 
plundering and burning. Within forty-eight hours after the 
news of the raid reached Indianapolis Governor Morton had 
raised a force of 65,000 men to defend possible points of 
attack and pursue and capture the invaders. It was thought 
Morgan's design might be to march upon Indianapolis for 
the purpose of capturing the arsenal there, and liberating 
the confederate prisoners at Camp Morton. New Albany 
and Jefferson ville wore also considered possible objects of 
attack, and these uncertainties made "^lans of pursuit most 
difficult. 

A small force of militia, numbering about four hundred 
men, hastily gathered together, was placed under command 
of Colonel Lewis Jordan, who undertook the defense of 
Corydon. Jordan was easily outgeneraled, and his men were 
captured and paroled. Morgan then plundered Corydon, and 
a little later visited the same fate upon Paoli, Palmyra, and 
Salem. At Salem the railroad bridge was burned, and in 
several instances mill owners were compelled to pay large 
sums to save their property from being put to the flames. 

By this time General Hobson at the head of a small force 
had crossed over from Kentucky and was in eager pursuit, 
while the new troops raised in Indiana were being disposed 
to the best advantage with a view of teaching the impudent 
marauders a needed lesson. Morgan, scenting danger, began 
a retreat. He stayed at Dupont long enough to burn two 
railroad bridges, destroy a section of railroad tracks, raid a 



160 IXDIAIVAS PART IX THE CIVIL WAR 

large meat-packing establislinient, and generally indulge the 
propensities of his men for arson and plunder. It is said 
that when the raiders left Dupont each " Johnnie " had a 
fine ham slung proudly to his saddle. ^ They appropriated 
all the best horses along the way and left their jaded beasts 
behind. Moving rapidly to Versailles Morgan captured and 
paroled three hundred militiamen, and robbed the county 
treasury of several thousand dollars. Then proceeding to 
Sunman Station he destroyed some more railroad property, 
and avoiding a company of militia that looked too formidable 
to justify the hazard of an engagement, left the state, cross- 
ing the line near the town of Harrison. His whole band 
was finally killed or captured in Ohio, but not until he had 
traversed the state almost to the Pennsylvania line. Morgan 
was confined in the Ohio penitentiary but escaped, and re- 
sumed service in the confederate army. 

Respects in Which Raid Was a Benefit. The effect of 
Morgan's raid was to unify public sentiment in Indiana as 
nothing else could have done. The patriotic uprising in 
defense of the state, and the homes of the citizens, silenced 
for the time being, at least, every disloyal tongue, while the 
failure of promised aid to the invaders by the Knights of the 
Golden Circle and other disloyal secret societies brought 

1 Although hams could not be said to be in the category, many articles 
were appropriated without rational motive. General Basil Duke relates 
some amusing instances: "The weather was intensely warm, yet one man 
rode for three days with seven pairs of skates slung about his neck; another 
loaded himself with sieigh bells. A large chafing dish, a bag of horn buttons, 
a medium-sized Dutch clock, a green glass decanter, with goblets to match, a 
chandelier, a bird cage containing three canaries, were some of the articles 
I saw borne off and jealously fondled. The officers usually waited a reason- 
able period, until the novelty had worn off, and then had this rubbish thrown 
away. Baby shoes and calico, however, were staple articles of appropria- 
tion. A fellow would procure a bolt of calico, carry it carefully for a day oi 
two, then cast it aside and get another." 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 161 

those organizations into contempt with the Confederacy, 
which before had expected much of them. 

Over twenty-two hundred claims, aggregating $6,497,399, 
were filed against the state for damages and loss of property 
on account of Morgan's raid. The amount allowed and paid 
was $413,599. 

Governor Morton Runs the State without the Legislature ; 
Days of Gloom and Disloyalty. During the yesivs of 1861 
and 1862 the results of the war were such as to cause much 
gloom and discouragement, although some real progress was 
made. The battle of Bull Run, the first important engage- 
ment, was a federal defeat, and other reverses followed. 
There were frequent changes in leadership, and the armies 
of the Union were slow and tardy of movement. At least 
it seemed so from the standpoint of the great masses of the 
people unacquainted with military problems. Confidence 
was impaired, and to many the task of conquering the Con- 
federacy seemed hopeless. Under these circumstances, and 
in view of the fact that the people were beginning to feel the 
burdens of the war, recruiting became more difficult in Indi- 
ana, and opposition developed. 

The election in November, 1862, resulted in victory for the 
democrats, and the legislature, which had worked in such 
harmony with Governor Morton in 1861 and 1862, was suc- 
ceeded by one that, by a majority of its membership, was 
hostile to him, and out of sympathy with the purposes of the 
war. Every question presented was given a partisan bias. 
Under the constitution the governor is commander-in-chief 
of the militia of the state, but by a bill introduced b}^ those 
who were hostile to him, it was sought to take this authority 
from his hands and vest it in a board of state officers, which 
officers at that time were all of opposite political faith from 



162 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

the governor, and opposed to the war. The repubhcan mem- 
bers supporting the governor naturally objected to the 
measure, which was plainly vicious and disloyal in its pur- 
poses. They endeavored to sidetrack it, and secure the 
passage of the regular appropriations bill, but the democrats 
would not permit the appropriations to be considered until 
their militia bill should be enacted. The deadlock continued, 
and finally, to prevent the passage of the militia bill, the repub- 
lican members resorted to the expedient of withdrawing in a 
body, and leaving the assembl}- without a quorum. They 
went to Madison, and remained in that city until the time 
of the session had expired b}' constitutional limitation. Very 
naturally this republican " bolt " was roundl}- condemned by 
their political opponents, notwithstanding it was only neces- 
sary to refer back to 1861 for a democratic precedent. The 
democrats quit the legislature in that year to break a quorum 
and prevent the passage of an apportionment and military 
bill. 

Thus for the second time in its history the state was left 
without funds to meet its obligations, or maintain its govern- 
ment and institutions. When Governor Willard faced a like 
dilemma in 1857, the attorney general of the state sustained 
him in his view that he at least could pay the interest on the 
state debt from funds in the treasury without a specific appro- 
priation, but the attorne\^ general under jNIorton held dif- 
ferently, declaring such action illegal. And by irregular 
methods on the part of the attorney general (Hoard) and 
others, the question was carried to the state supreme coiu-t, 
which also ruled against the right of the governor to pay 
the interest without a legislative appropriation. The main 
purpose of such actions was to compel the governor to call a 
special session of the legislature in order that the hostile 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 163 

attacks against him and his administration, and the obstruc- 
tive tactics to retard the prosecution of the war, could be 
resumed. But on the grounds that the " history of the 
origin, progress and conclusion of the supreme court decision 
was such as to deprive it of any moral influence " the gover- 
nor felt that he was justified in disregarding it, which he did. 
He proceeded to borrow money, on the credit of the state, 
from banks and individuals, and induced the war depart- 
ment of the government to make him a large advance from 
a special military emergency fund then in existence. With 
these resources, procured upon the faith that the next legis- 
lature would assume and pay the obligations, he not only met 
the interest charge on the public debt, and provided for the 
maintenance of the state government and institutions, but 
had funds to continue the military operations of the state 
without halt or interruption. His enemies could only look 
on with chagrin and amazement as he financed and managed 
the state without the legislature. The republicans were suc- 
cessful at the election in 1864, and the new legislature, which 
convened in January, 1865, made all necessary appropriations 
and paid the obligations entered into by the governor during 
the two preceding years. 

Treasonable Secret Societies ; Their Objects and Activities. 
From the beginning of the war there had been some opposi- 
tion in Indiana, and as the struggle dragged on and the fate 
of the Union continued to hang in the balance, the disloyal 
spirit grew bolder. It found its chief expression in the secret 
societies known as the Knights of the Golden Circle, the 
American Knights, and the Sons of Liberty. But as a matter 
of fact these were not different societies existing at the same 
tmie The Knights of the Golden Circle first merged into 
the American Knights because of the exposure of their ritual- 



164 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

istic work and treasonable designs, and the American Knights 
in turn were superseded by the^Sons of Liberty for the same 
reason. The society attained its largest membership and 
wrought its greatest menace under the latter designation. A 
membership of forty thousand in this state alone was claimed 
for it by its officers during the latter part of 1863, and in 
1864. This was overstating the facts somewhat, though at 
its most flourishing period the order did possess a numerical 
strength of perhaps twenty thousand. And the record it left 
is one to bring the blush of indignation and shame to the 
brow of every loyal citizen. 

To Establish Great Southern Empire; Later Scheme for 
Northwestern Confederacy. The order of the Knights of 
the Golden Circle had its origin in the South, many years 
before the Civil war. The object aimed at is said to have 
been the conquest of Mexico, Nicaragua, and Cuba, and the 
establishment around the Gulf of Mexico of a great southern 
empire, based on slavery. There seemed to be no purpose 
to take any of the Northern states into the conspiracy, but 
during the war chapters were organized in the border states 
among Southern sympathizers, who acted as spies and secret 
emissaries for the Confederacy, used their influence to prevent 
enlistments in the Union army, resisted drafts and the col- 
lection of Federal taxes, and finally, when they thought them- 
selves strong enough, endeavored to organize an insurrection 
in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Ken- 
tucky. By this time, however, the Northern chapters, under 
the designation of Sons of Liberty, seem to have developed 
an ambition of their own, which was to sever the states of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and perhaps Kentucky and 
Wisconsin, from the Union, and establish a great north- 
western confederacy. Failing in this, they would carry any 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 165 

of these states they could into the Southern Confederacy. 
The motive behind the disloyalty of many of the leaders in 
the movement was ambition for power, or the expectation of 
high office or position under the seceding government. 

The explanation of most of the disaffection existing in 
Indiana is found in the fact that many of the citizens of the 
state were of Southern birth or descent. Their natural sym- 
pathies were with the South and her people, rather than with 
the East, to which they were bound by fewer ties of kinship, 
or of commerce and trade. 

Methods of Enlisting Members; Exposure by the Gover- 
nor. By its outward profession the '' Sons of Liberty," as 
well as its predecessor, the '' Knights of the Golden Circle," 
was a political organization formed to aid, in a perfectly legiti- 
mate way, the interests of the democratic party. Under 
this pretense its membership was recruited by many honest 
citizens who would not have countenanced any disloyal move- 
ment, but by degrees numbers of them were won over by 
treasonable teachings. Anybody whose political views or 
sympathies were in harmony with its outwardly expressed 
purposes could join the order, the '' Outer Temple." Only 
those who were tried and tested and known to be '' right " 
could belong to the '' Inner Temple," or share its well-guarded 
secrets. Through this inner temple, or military branch of 
the order, arms and equipment and munitions of war were 
collected, and men instructed and trained for military ser- 
vice. The state was divided, under the Sons of Liberty, into 
four military districts, each being commanded by a '' Major 
General." The order had extensive membership in Ohio, 
Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri, and in a number 
of other states it was well represented. 

In a speech delivered after the close of the war Governor 

Moore, Ind. — 11 



166 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

Morton described the activities of the Sons of Liberty in this 
state and the final breaking up of the order. He said: 
" They claimed in 1864 to have forty thousand members in 
the state, were lawless, defiant, plotting treason against the 
United States and" the overthrow of the state government. 
In some counties their operations were so formidable as to 
require the militia to be kept on a war footing, and through- 
out 1863, and until the final explosion of the organization in 
August, 1864, they kept the whole state in uproar and alarm. 
In 1864 so numerous were these treasonable organizations, 
and so confident were they of their strength, that they ma- 
tured a plan for a general uprising in the city of Indianapolis, 
on the 16th of August, under cover of a mass meeting of the 
democratic party, attended by members of these organiza- 
tions from all parts of the state. The plan as shown by the 
subsequent confessions of some of the leading conspirators 
was to release on that day about seven thousand rebel pris- 
oners confined at Camp Morton, to seize the arsenal and 
arm the prisoners, overturn the state government and take 
possession of the state. The plan was discovered some three 
weeks before the time fixed, and was abandoned. Subse- 
quently the seizure of arms and ammunition collected at 
Indianapolis for treasonable purposes, and of the records and 
rituals of the Sons of Liberty, as well as the arrest of eight of 
the ringleaders, had the effect of breaking up and destroying 
the power of the organization. In the list of the principal 
members of the organization were found three of the state 
officers into whose hands the legislature of 1863 had at- 
tempted to place the whole military power of the state. On 
the trial of these ringleaders before a military tribunal, 
appointed by the President under the act of Congress, some 
of them turned state's evidence and disclosed the full charac- 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 167 

ter and extent of the conspiracy. Four of them were con- 
victed and sentenced to death. One of them was pardoned 
outright by President Johnson, and two others, Bowles and 
Milhgan, had their punishment commuted to imprisonment 
for hfe, but were afterwards released by a decision of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, to the effect that 
a military commission had no juriscUction to try them." 

The uprising mentioned by the governor and scheduled 
to take place on the 16th of August, 1864, was to have been 
general in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky. 
Confederate commissioners in Canada had helped perfect 
the plans, and confederate money assisted in the purchase of 
the supply of arms and munitions which had been smuggled 
into the state and concealed by the Sons of Liberty. The 
plan in Indiana was to seize, and if necessary assassinate, the 
governor. A " Committee of Ten " was especially appointed 
for that purpose. The detection and exposure of the infa- 
mous plot was due almost wholly to the vigilance of Governor 
Morton. By means of a personally conducted " secret ser- 
vice " he was kept informed of the meetings and plans of 
the Sons of Liberty at all times, and was able to checkmate 
them at every turn. 

Trial of Conspirators. The trials before a military tribunal 
of the leading conspirators for their participation in the plans 
of insurrection began at Indianapolis, September 22, 1864. 
The charge against them was that of conspiracy in organizing 
secret societies for the purpose of overthrowing the govern- 
ment, seizing the arsenal, releasing confederate prisoners, 
cooperating with rebels, inciting insurrection, and resisting 
the draft. Harrison H. Dodd, a leading organizer and official 
in the order, and in whose possession a large quantity of arms, 
consigned from New York as " Sunday School books," was 



168 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

found, escaped after arrest and fled to Canada. J. J. Bing- 
ham, editor of the Indianapolis Sentinel, turned state's evi- 
dence and escaped trial; three of the others were con- 
demned to death, and one to imprisonment for hfe. But 
owing to a doubt which arose as to the jurisdiction of the 
military commission trying them, and the further fact that 
the war was over and a cessation of violence was desired by 
everybody, none of the sentences were ever fully carried out. 

Expulsion of Senator Bright. A number of very promi- 
nent men were caught in the meshes of Knights of the Golden 
Circle and Sons of Liberty exposures. Previously a United 
States Senator from Indiana had been expelled (1862) from 
his seat in Congress because of correspondence with Jefferson 
Davis, which was deemed treasonable. This was Senator 
Jesse D. Bright. He wrote a letter to Davis in recommenda- 
tion of a friend who had a new invention or improvement in 
firearms to sell, addressing his letter to " His Excellency, 
Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederation of States." 
This was deemed tantamount to a recognition of the Con- 
federacy. Bright was a democrat, and Governor Morton 
proved his magnanimity by appointing ex-Governor Joseph A. 
Wright, also a democrat, to fill the vacancy. Morton received 
slight credit for the act, however, as Wright's colleagues 
charged that he had already gone over to the republicans. 

Significant Events Marking the Progress of a Great War; 
Reasons for Popular Impatience at First. It would be hard 
to describe the suspense and disappointment of the people 
during the first two years of the war, when events moved 
so slowly for the Union, and there were so few victories of 
consequence to light up the long vista of defeats and disas- 
ters. Perhaps too much was expected, for a summary even 
of the first year shows the successful campaign in West 



TNDFANA'S PART IN THE CJVIL WAR 169 

Virginia, Grant's capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, and 
his victory at Pittsburg Landing, leading to the capture of 
Corinth, to offset the loss of Fort Sumter, the Union defeat 
at the battle of Bull Run, and a few other minor reverses. 

The second year witnessed Grant's unsuccessful attack on 
Vicksburg, Pope's defeat at the second battle of Bull Run, 
Burnside's defeat at Fredericksburg, and McClellan's fruitless 
Peninsular campaign, but on the other side of the ledger we 
find Farragut's capture of New Orleans, Lee's repulse at 
Antietam or Sharpsburg, and the President's proclamation 
emancipating the slaves. 

The third year with its vicissitudes was pregnant with 
important results, foreshadowing the end. True, Hooker's 
defeat at Chancellorsville must be recorded, and the loss of 
the sanguinary battle at Chickamauga, but these weigh lightly 
in the scale as against Lee's defeat at Gettysburg, followed 
by the capture of Vicksburg and the opening of the Missis- 
sippi, thus cutting the Confederacy in twain. In addition 
there were the battle of Lookout Mountain, and Sherman's 
victory at Meridian, to swell the grand preponderance in 
favor of the Union. 

Then came the fourth and final year of the war, with the 
celebrated campaign against Richmond, and Grant's battles 
in the '' Wilderness," fought under a gloom that '' looked 
like the Shadow of Death;" the encounters about Spottsyl- 
vania, so costly in human life, where Grant proposed '^ to 
fight it out along this line if it takes all summer; " Sheridan 
in the Valley, and his famous ride from Winchester town; 
Sherman's march to the sea; and finally Lee's surrender at 
Appomattox, when the war was over, and the Union saved, 
though at an appalling cost in blood and treasure. 

On the Union side more than 350,000 lives were sacrificed, 



170 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

and on the confederate side the loss was about two thirds as 
great. The expense to the Union in money aggregated three 
and a quarter biUions of dollars. 

Then followed the reconstruction period, and it has 
required all the intervening years to heal the wounds and 
remove the scars, but we are at last a reunited country, 
stronger, greater, and grander than ever. 

End Hailed with Joy in Indiana; Some Items of Cost; 
the Bounty System. In no state of the Union was the end 
of the war heralded with greater joy than in Indiana. Dur- 
ing the four years of its continuance it had drawn from the 
homes and peaceful occupations of the people close to a 
quarter million of the bravest and best of the male popula- 
tion, and the cost in money mounted high into the millions. 

Of the grand army of brave fellows sent out from Indiana, 
24,416 lost their lives from wounds and disease, 652 being 
commissioned officers, and 23,764 noncommissioned officers 
and enlisted men. 

There were spent for local bounties in the state? to stimulate 
enlistments, sums aggregating $15,492,876. These advance- 
ments, or " bounties," were not looked upon as being in the 
nature of bribes, but necessary provisions for the maintenance 
of the soldiers' families. There were many instances, however, 
wherein the bounty system was taken advantage of by cun- 
ning and dishonest men. They would enlist merely to secure 
the bounty, then desert, and reenlist under different names, 
and repeat the process over and over, drawing a bounty each 
time. To break up the practice a number were arrested, 
and three were finally court-martialed and shot, as an example 
to deter others. 

The Battle of Pogue's Run. " Copperhead " and " But- 
ternut " were opprobrious terms applied to members of the 



rNDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 171 

disloyal secret societies and Southern sympathizers, who, while 
remaining at home, plotted against the government, and by 
words or deeds gave aid and comfort to its enemies.^ 

The battle of Pogue's Run was the farcical ending of the 
Butternut conspiracy of May 20, 1863, to make an armed 
demonstration in Indianapolis. Members of the order of 
Sons of Liberty and other sympathizers with the Confed- 
eracy had come to the capital city under cover of attending 
a political rally of the democractic party. They came with 
weapons concealed upon their persons, and mingled with the 
crowd, prepared for concerted action upon signal of their 
leaders. But they were overawed and thrown into panic by 
the unexpected appearance at the meeting of a handful of 
paroled Union soldiers, and on their way out of town those 
who had come by train meekly submitted to disarmament by 
a small, self-appointed searching party. As the search of 
the train bound toward Cincinnati began, a veritable shower 
of pocket artillery, thrown hurriedly from the coach windows 
by the frightened " Butternuts," fell splashing into the murky 
waters of the little rivulet hard by, known as Pogue's Run. 
And notwithstanding these contributions to Jupiter Pluvius, 
the search of two trains resulted in the capture of more than 
five hundred loaded revolvers and pistols, and a large number 
of dangerous-looking knives, one of them being nearly two 
feet long. Thus on a day that was to be marked by sangui- 
nary deeds on the part of the " Sons of Liberty " to empha- 

1 The legislature passed an act in 1865 indemnif3'ing the officers and 
men of the United States army, and of the Indiana Legion, for acts done in 
the military service of the state, or of the United States, in enforcing the 
laws and preserving the peace. In case of prosecutions brought against 
them it was a defense to prove that the plaintiff belonged to a secret society 
opposed to the w-ar, or in sympathy with the Confederacy. In the absence of 
such defense the limit of punishment, in case of conviction, was fixed at 
five dollars, without costs. 



172 INDIANA'S FART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

size popular disapproval of the war for the Union, " not a 
shot was fired or a sheathed knife drawn." Naturally very 
little respect was entertained thereafter for the warlike valor 
of the Butternuts. They became objects of ridicule, and the 
menace of their treasonable organizations was never after- 
wards quite so great. 

The Welcome Home; Caring for the Soldier and His 
Orphans, and Honoring the Dead. The returning soldiers 
and sailors at the close of the war were everywhere received 
with gratitude and acclaim, and in an incredibly short time 
they were back at their old stations in the business or pro- 
fessional world. Truly they " taught the world a lesson 
before which it stands in amazement, how, when the storm 
of battle had passed," they could lay aside their arms, " put 
off the habiliments of war, and return with cheerfulness to 
the gentle pursuits of peace, and show how the bravest of 
soldiers could become the best of citizens." ^ 

Of course there were sorrowful exceptions in the instances of 
the thousands who perished in camps, on the long marches, and 
on Southern battlefields, and the other thousands who returned, 
but with shattered limbs, and maimed and disease-racked bod- 
ies. For the benefit of these the government established and 
maintains a liberal pension policy, and provides homes for 
veterans who desire to avail themselves of their shelter and 
comforts. One of these soldiers' homes is situated at Mar- 
ion, Indiana. And the state has been generous in supple- 
menting the efforts of the general government in caring for 
the soldiers and sailors and their orphans, and honoring the 
memories of those who gave up their lives that the nation 
might live. Evidences of this liberal policy are to be found 
in the State Soldiers' Home at Lafayette, the Soldiers' and 

1 Extract from message by Governor Morton. 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



173 



Sailors' Orphans' Home at Knightstown, the Soldiers' and 
Sailors' Monument at Indianapolis, and the monuments 
marking the resting places of the dead, and the places where 
they fell, on the battlefields in the South. 

With the Union restored, and the land again blessed with 
the benediction of peace, the people of Indiana were not only 
willing but anxious to forget the animosities of the war, and 



' "'-^X^^ '^3*^ 



ir^mi.f. 






^^it 



7^-%:i^lt 



^''M^^ 



Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home 



the differences that had arrayed section against section. 
Their patriotism was as broad as the wide-flung boundaries 
of the Republic. When the imposing monument erected in 
honor of George Washington, at Washington, D. C, was being 
built, during the days when the memories of the war were 
still green, each state in the Union was requested to supply 
a stone, taken from its own native soil, to enter into the 
construction of the great memorial. Inscribed upon the 
stone furnished by Indiana, in accordance with this privilege, 



174 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



were the words, eloquently expressive of the state's true atti- 
tude, " Indiana knows no North, no South, nothing but the 
Union." 

Indiana Soldiers Who Won Honors During the War and 
Afterwards. Among the Indiana men who won distinction 
in the war for the Union, General Ambrose E. Burnside, 

a native of Union 
County, though en- 
listing from Rhode 
Island, attained to 
the highest rank in 
the service. He early 
displayed brilliant 
qualities as a soldier, 
and in November, 
1862, the President 
appointed him as 
McClellan's successor 
in command of the 
Army of the Potomac. 
Burnside accepted 
reluctantly, knowing 
the tremendous re- 
sponsibilities placed 
upon his shoulders. 
His successes, which had attracted the attention of the coun- 
try, and of the President, were won with smaller bodies of men, 
and he modestly doubted his ability to lead so vast an army. 
However, his courage and resolution were equal to any un- 
dertaking, and his patriotism such that he would hazard any 
sacrifice in the hope of benefiting his country. Spurred on 
by the anxiety of the President, and the necessity of striking a 




Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 175 

blow, as much for its moral effect upon the flagging spirits of 
the North as to check the progress of the Confederacy, he at 
once moved forward to attack Richmond, the confederate 
capital. But at Fredericksburg, strongly intrenched along 
the south bank of the Rappahannock, he encountered General 
Lee (Dec. 13, 1862) with his great army of veterans that had 
fought McClellan to a standstill at Antietam, or Sharpsburg, 
three months before. Burnside crossed the river and at- 
tacked, but was compelled to withdraw after one of the 
bloodiest battles of the war up to that time. The Union 
loss was nearly thirteen thousand men, and the confederate 
loss about half as great. Burnside 's effective force in this 
battle consisted of 113,000 men. Lee's army was consider- 
ably smaller, but it had the advantage of being fortified and 
operating on the defensive. 

A month after the battle of Fredericksburg Burnside gave 
up the command of the Army of the Potomac and was suc- 
ceeded by General Hooker. Hooker in turn was defeated 
by Lee at Chancellorsville. The great task of conquering 
Lee was left for Grant, the first man to be honored with the 
title of Lieutenant General since Washington. 

General Burnside, falling back to a subordiante command, 
continued to perform excellent service for the cause of the 
Union. Returning to Rhode Island, where he had made his 
home since shortly before the war began, he was elected to 
represent that state in the United States Senate. 

While the fame of General Lew Wallace rests more upon 
his achievements in civil life than upon his record in war, he 
nevertheless deserves honorable mention for patriotic service 
rendered to his country during the struggle to save the Union. 
He was commissioned a Brigadier General in September, 
1861, promoted to the rank of Major General in the spring 



176 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



of 1862, and continued at the front till the close of the war. 
From 1878-1881 he served as governor of New Mexico, and 
in the latter year became minister to Turkey. 

Critics endeavored for a time to cast a cloud upon General 
Wallace's war record because of his late arrival on the first 
day of the battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, April 

6, 1862. Investiga- 
tion proved that 
he was waiting under 
instructions for orders 
from General Grant; 
that the orders were 
delayed, and that 
finally the wrong road 
was taken because of 
indefinite directions. 
He arrived that even- 
ing, but too late for 
the first day's battle. 
The causes were be- 
yond his control. He 
participated with his 
men in the great 
struggle the next day, 
and no instance can 
be found from the 
beginning to the end of the war where he shrank from any 
duty, however arduous, or hesitated in the face of danger. 
His Ben Hur, Prince of India and other literary productions 
rank very high, and have attained a popularity that is 
world-wide. The legislature of 1907 provided for the plac- 
ing of his statue in the national Statuary Hall, in the Capitol 




Gen. Lew Wallace 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 



1' 



at Washington, where it occupies an exclusive position of 
honor by the side of the statue of OHver P. Morton, the 
great war governor.^ 

Brigadier General Benjamin Harrison also reflected credit 
upon his state b}^ gallant service in the field, and was after- 
wards honored in civil life, first by being made a United 
States Senator (1881- 
1887), and second by 
election to the high 
office of the Presi- 
dency. 

Major General 
Alvin P. Hovey, also 
a gallant soldier, in 
later years became 
governor of Indiana 
(1889-1891), and 
Major General Walter 
Q. Gresham won dis- 
tinction as a jurist, 
and was called to 
Cabinet positions 
under two Presidents. 
He was first Post- 
master General, then 
Secretary of the Trea- 
sury under President Arthur, and served as Secretary oi 
State during President Cleveland's second term. 

Brigadier General Pleasant A. Hackleman of Rush County 
was the only general officer from Indiana to be killed in the 

* Under a law of Congress each state is entitled to erect two statues in 
this Hall and no more. (Sec. 1814, U. S. Revised Statutes.) 




Gen. p. a. Hackleman 



178 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

service. He was commissioned April 28, 1862, and lost his 
life October 2, of the same year. He was a brilliant and 
daring officer, and those who knew him well confidently 
expected him to make a great career. 

Among the Indiana soldiers whose fame must rest wholly 
upon their services in the war, Major General Robert H. 
Milroy, Major General Joseph J. Reynolds, General Edward 
Canby, Brigadier General Jeff C. Davis, and Brigadier Gen- 
eral Nathan Kimball are entitled to especial mention. Milroy 
won the title of the " Gray Eagle " of the army by gallant 
service in West Virginia. He fought in the '' Valley " under 
Pope, campaigned in Pennsylvania and in the West, and dis- 
played his bravery and his skill as a commander on many 
a field. Major General Reynolds also fought in West Vir- 
ginia, and was later with the Army of the Cumberland. He 
commanded the fourth division under General Thomas at 
Chickamauga, and afterwards became chief of staff to Thomas. 
He was with Sheridan in the Valley, and performed gallant 
service wherever placed. General Jeff C. Davis was also a 
gallant officer, but his career was undoubtedly retarded, and 
perhaps dwarfed, by the unfortunate episode at Louisville in 
September, 1862, wherein he shot and killed General William 
Nelson.^ That the act was provoked by needless insult, and 

1 The shooting took place at the Gait House, Louisville. General Nelson 
had been appointed to succeed General Boyle in command of the forces 
opposed to Kirby Smith, in Kentucky. Inquiring of Davis how many guns 
he needed, he received the reply, "About 2,500." Springing to his feet he 
shouted with an oath: "Don't you know how many men you have 
in your command?" Davis explained that on account of the constant 
receipt of new recruits he could not tell exactly, but that he would ascertain 
before making requisition for arms. At this Nelson cursed him again, 
relieved him of his command, and threatened to send him to Cincinnati under 
guard. Four days later, being September 30, 1862, Governor Morton of 
Indiana, happened to be a guest at the Gait House, and he and General 
Nelson were in the office at the same time. General Davis came up and, 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 179 

a menacing attitude on the part of General Nelson, there 
were few to deny, and Davis was never tried for the deed. 
He afterwards participated in the Stone River campaign, was 
at Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and in other important 
engagements, and especially distinguished himself at Ben- 
tonville. Indiana also lays claim to General Edward 
Canby, who, though a Kentuckian by birth, enlisted from 
this state. He proved himself a fearless soldier and an able 
commander by gallantry on many fields. He aided materi- 
ally in the capture of Mobile in 1865. At the close of the 
war he was placed in command, first of the Military Depart- 
ment of North and South Carolina, and later of the Depart- 
ment of the Gulf. He was assassinated by the Modoc 
Indians in 1873. Brigadier General Kimball performed gal- 
lant services both in the Mexican War and the war for the 
Union. He headed commands at Antietam, Fredericksburg, 
and in other great battles and numberless skirmishes. He 
was with Grant at Vicksburg, and marched with Sherman 
to the sea. 

The state also furnished some distinguished talent to the 
navy. Under this head honorable mention is due Com- 
mander Napoleon Collins, born in Pennsylvania, but a 

requesting Morton to lis^ten to what he had to say, inquired of Nelson why 
he had been removed from his command. Nelson responded by calling him 
a contemptible puppy, striking him in the face and ordering him from his 
presence. Then turning upon Morton he accused him of being there merely 
to witness " this insult" to him. Later he met Morton in the hall, and with 
his hand in his coat pocket seemed to menace him with a pistol or other 
weapon. Morton, though unarmed, made a similar gesture. Davis ap- 
peared upon the scene at this time, and shouted to Nelson to stop and defend 
himself. Nelson faced him, and as he approached Davis fired, and Nelson 
fell, mortally wounded. Davis was arrested, but released soon afterwards. 
The tragedy created a great stir at the time, and for a while Governor Morton 
was accused of being an accomplice in the killing. The circumstances, when 
sifted, however, were such as to exonerate him. 
Moore, Ind. — 12 



180 INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 

citizen of Indiana b}^ adoption; Lieutenant Commander 
William Gwin and Admiral George Brown. Upon the death 
of Admiral Ramsey, Brown became ranking admiral of the 
navy, retaining this distinguished honor until his retirement 
in 1897. 

Campaign of 1864; Morton's Acts Legalized; Tax for Sick 
and Wounded Soldiers and Soldiers' Families. The political 
campaign of 1864 was marked by much excitement and bit- 
terness, largely because of issues connected with the war. 
President Lincoln was a candidate for reelection on the 
national republican ticket, and General George B. McClel- 
lan was his democratic opponent. In Indiana, Oliver P. 
Morton and Joseph E. McDonald were the opposing candi- 
dates for governor. The republicans were especially solic- 
itous for the success of their legislative ticket, because of 
the necessity of legalizing the acts of Governor Morton in 
his conduct of the affairs of the state during the war. The 
result was a triumph for the republicans in both state and 
nation. 

At the regular session of the legislature in 1865 all loans 
contracted by the governor both for military and civil pur- 
poses were promptly paid, and his official acts approved. 
An act was passed providing for a special tax levy of three 
mills on each one dollar of property valuation, and one dollar 
on each taxable poll, for the support of soldiers' families, 
and of sick and wounded soldiers in the hospitals. 

Important Legislation for the Schools. The session of 
1865 was also especially important to the educational interests 
of the state. A body of school laws enacted in 1852 was 
almost immediately afterwards declared unconstitutional, and 
no further legislation on the subject had been attempted 
until this time. The measures adopted included the sub- 



INDIANA'S PART IN THE CIVIL WAR 181 

stitution of the present civil townships for the congressional 
townships as the basis of the common school system, and 
the making of each township and each incorporated city or 
town a distinct municipal corporation for school purposes; 
the creation of the office of State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, and a State Board of Education; provisions for 
the holding of teachers' institutes; the levy of local taxes for 
school purposes, and a tax for township libraries; the authori- 
zation of township trustees to establish graded schools; a 
system of teachers' examinations. The provisions of an act 
of Congress passed in 1862, donating lands for the use of 
colleges " for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic 
arts," were also accepted, a step which led to the establish- 
ment of Purdue University. At the special session called in 
November of this same year a law was passed providing for 
the establishment of the State Normal School. 

Thus from 1865 dates the beginning of the modern develop- 
ment which has placed Indiana's system of common school 
and higher education not only abreast of the times, but far 
in advance of the best that has been accomplished by most 
of the states. The office of County Superintendent, mark- 
ing another important step forward, was created in 1875. 



CHAPTER XIII 
ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

The state Moves Forward. With the close of the war a 
new era of development and growth immediately set in 
which has carried Indiana forward on its tide to a rank 
among the states in population, wealth, and the industries, 
that the most sanguine would not have ventured to predict. 
A splendid advancement is also shown along governmental, 
administrative and educational lines, and in all respects the 
state has kept pace with the most progressive. Including 
the marvelous record made in the war for the Union, the 
citizens of Indiana may justly be pardoned for indulging a 
modest pride in the achievements of the even half-century 
dating from 1860. 

Governor Morton Resigns; Succeeded by Lieutenant 
Governor Baker; Indiana Man Becomes Vice President. 
Oliver P. Morton was elected United States senator by the 
legislature of 1867, and resigned the office of governor. 
Lieutenant Governor Conrad P. Baker served out the unex- 
pired term and was reelected in 1868, after a close and exciting 
race. Thomas A. Hendricks, then a member of the United 
States Senate, was his democratic opponent. Baker's plu- 
rality was only 961. 

General Ulysses S. Grant for President, and Schuyler Col- 
fax of Indiana for Vice President composed the republican 
national ticket in 1868. Their democratic opponents were 
Governor Horace Seymour of New York, and General F. P. 

182 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 



183 



Blair of Missouri. Grant and Colfax were elected, Indiana 
contributing her electoral vote to the result. 




Monument to Schuyler Colfax, Indl\napolis 

GOVERNOR baker's ADMINISTRATION (1867-1873) 

Political Inharmony; Fourteenth Amendment. There was 
much political rancor throughout Governor Baker's admin- 
istration. It was in the midst of the reconstruction period 
and during the time of the attempted impeachment of Presi- 
dent Andrew Johnson. The resolution for the ratification 
of the Fourteenth Amendment conferring the rights of citizen- 
ship upon the negro was adopted by the legislature of 1867, 
after a spirited contest. 

Lynch Law at Se5miour. Taking advantage of the dis- 
turbed condition of the times, the lawless elements in society 



184 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

had become very bold, and following a series of less important 
outbreaks a train robbery was perpetrated at Seymour, in 
May, 1868. This is said to have been the first outrage of 
the kind occurring anywhere in the country, and as a result 
of the excitement and indignation that followed, the perpe- 
trators were taken from the custody of the officers and 
lynched. 

Legislative Battle over the Fifteenth Amendment; Fee 
and Salary Law. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Con- 
stitution, giving negros the right of suffrage, came before the 
legislature of 1869 for ratification, and dramatic scenes 
immediately followed. The republicans were in the majority 
in both houses, but did not possess a quorum within their 
own membership. So to prevent the adoption of the reso- 
lution ratifying the amendment, the democratic members, 
numbering seventeen senators and thirty-four representa- 
tives, resigned in a body, breaking a quorum. This was early 
in the session, and no appropriations bill had been passed 
to provide for the necessary running expenses of the state. 
The governor immediately issued writs of election to fill the 
vacancies caused by the resignations, and called a special 
session to meet on the 8th of April. This time by agreement 
the republicans deferred presenting the ratification resolution 
until the appropriations bill and some other measures had 
been passed, and then the tug of war was renewed. Again 
the democrats resigned, but this time the governor refrained 
from making formal report of the fact to the presiding officers 
of the two houses, and on the 19th of May, as the demo- 
crats in the senate were preparing to leave, the republicans 
suddenly closed the doors, making them prisoners within the 
chamber. Thus a quorum was preserved by counting the 
democrats present and not voting, and the ratification reso- 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 185 

lution passed. Hearing the plight of tlieir confreres in the 
senate, the house democrats fled, but the speaker later ruled 
that a quorum was present, and the resolution was passed 
in that body, and declared adopted. 

But with this the matter was not fin£^lly settled. At the 
election in 1870 the democrats succeeded in winning a major- 
ity in both branches of the legislature, and at the session 
of 1871 they undertook to rescind the ratification resolution. 
By a well-planned coup they succeeded in locking the doors 
on the republican senators and holding them unwilling pris- 
oners for the purpose of preserving a quorum, while the 
rescinding resolution was passed by a strictly partisan vote. 
This time it was the republican house members who ran, 
exactly duplicating the scenes of 1869, with the role of the 
actors reversed, the only difference being that the governor 
accepted the resignation of the republicans, leaving the demo- 
crats hopelessly stranded without a quorum. In this way the 
rescinding resolution was defeated. 

An important measure regulating the fees and salaries of 
the state and county officers was enacted at the session of 
1871. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR THOMAS A. HENDRICKS 

(1873-1877) 

Mixed Election Results; Panic of 1873. In 1872 Thomas 
A. Hendricks, democrat, was elected governor over Thomas 
M. Brown, his republican opponent. The democrats also 
won the state superintendent of public instruction, but all 
the other state officers, and a majority in the legislature, 
were elected by the republicans. Hendricks was the first 
democratic governor elected in any Northern state after the 
war. His majority over Brown was 1148. In the Novem- 



186 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

ber election which followed General Grant, republican candi- 
date for President, carried the state against Horace Greeley, 
his fusion-democratic opponent, by nearly 23,000. 

The panic of 1873 bore heavily upon many of the indus- 
tries of the state, but did not seriously retard the swelling 
tide of prosperity and growth that set in immediatel}^ after 
the close of the war. There were some strikes of labor organ- 
izations, and once the governor sent a small force of militia 
to Logansport to quell disorders by railroad strikers, but 
there were no disturbances or outbreaks in the state of a 
serious nature. 

Drastic Temperance Legislation; The Baxter Law. The 
session of the legislature of 1873 was signalized by the enact- 
ment of the Baxter liquor law, which was a very drastic piece 
of temperance legislation. To secure a license, or permit to 
sell liquors under the Baxter law, an applicant was compelled 
to file a petition containing the names of a majority of the 
legal voters in the ward or township in which he proposed to 
conduct his business. He had to give bond in the sum of 
$3000, and was made liable in damages for any injury in 
person, property or means of support that might be suffered 
by any person as a result of sales of intoxicants by him, and 
the owner or lessor of the building occupied by the saloon 
was made jointly liable. It was a finable offense to sell 
liquor to an intoxicated person, and the person becoming 
intoxicated was subject to a fine. 

The Baxter law was generally credited with the defeat of 
the republican ticket at the following election (1874). 
Although it was voted for almost solidly by the republican 
members of the legislature which passed it, it also received 
a number of democratic votes, and was signed by a demo- 
cratic governor (Hendricks). The party vote in Indiana 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 



187 



was then very close, and it is possible that other causes may 
have entered into the result of the succeeding election. The 
Baxter law was repealed in 1875. 

The legislature of 1875 accomplished very little that was 
praiseworthy, and when its time had expired by limitation it 
adjourned without passing the general appropriations bill. 
The governor immedi- 
ately called a special 
session, which made the 
necessary appropria- 
tions, passed a few 
other measures, and 
adjourned after five 
days. 

Centennial Year a 
Year of Political Ex- 
citement ; " Blue 
Jeans" Williams 
Elected Governor. The 
year 1876 was not only 
the first centennial an- 
niversary of American 

independence, but it was a year of unusual political animation 
in both state and nation. Governor Thomas A. Hendricks 
was the democratic candidate for Vice President on the ticket 
with Presidential Candidate Samuel J. Tilden, of New York. 
The republican candidates were Rutherford B. Hayes of 
Ohio, and William A. Wheeler of New York. The demo- 
cratic candidate for governor was James D. Williams. To 
oppose him the republicans first nominated Godlove S. Orth, 
who later withdrew from the ticket, and was succeeded by 
Benjamin Harrison. Mr. Williams was a farmer, who had 




Thomas A. Hendricks 



188 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 



served in the legislature and in Congress, and was charged 
with carrying his demands for economy in public expendi- 
tures to the extreme of penuriousness. The opposition did 
not overlook this in their campaign criticisms, and in addition 
held him up to ridicule by calling him " Blue Jeans " because 

of his plain homespun 
clothing. Later events 
cUd not indicate that 
the attacks lost Wil- 
liams any votes. On 
the contrary his 
friends and partisans 
adopted the epithet 
of " Blue Jeans " as a 
rallying cry, and an- 
swered the republican 
attacks by calling 
Harrison the aristo- 
cratic or silk-stocking 
candidate' Williams 
was elected along with 
the entire democratic 
state ticket. The 
democrats likewise secured a majority in the state senate, 
the republicans winning the house of representatives. 

The state also gave a majority to the democratic national 
ticket, and excitement ran high during the long and bitter 
dispute which followed as to which party had won the Presi- 
dency. A commission was finally appointed by Congress, 
consisting of five senators, five representatives and five judges 
of the Supreme Court, who declared in favor of Hayes and 
Wheeler by a vote of eight to seven. The democrats were 




James D. Williams 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 189 

far from satisfied with the commission's award, and for a 
long time there were loud murmurings and charges of unfair 
methods. 

GOVERNOR WILLIAMS' ADMINISTRATION (1877-1880) 

The Governor Dies in Office and is Succeeded by Lieu- 
tenant Governor Isaac P. Gray. Governor Williams 
assumed office in January, 1877, and died November 20, 

1880. Lieutenant Governor Isaac P. Gray became acting 
governor for the few weeks remaining of the term. 

Important Amendments to the Constitution. The legisla- 
tive session of 1877 consumed much of its valuable time with 
political contentions and bickerings, and adjourned without 
passing a general appropriations bill. 

It was at this session, however, that the amendments to 
the state constitution were first proposed, striking out the 
restrictions against colored voters and bringing that in- 
strument into harmony with the federal constitution, as 
amended. Other amendments were also proposed as follows: 
Fixing qualifications of voters as to residence; providing that 
all general elections shall be held on the first Tuesday after 
the first Monday in November (doing away with October 
elections) ; providing that fees and salaries of county officers 
should be regulated on the basis of population; substituting 
the words " such other courts " for " such inferior courts " 
in Section I, Article VII, and limiting the power of incurring 
debts by municipal corporations. These amendments were 
again acted upon favorably at the session in 1879, and sub- 
mitted to the voters of the state at an election in 1880. Not 
receiving the required majority of all votes cast at this elec- 
tion, they were resubmitted at a special election March 24, 

1881, and legally adopted. 



190 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

A special session was called immediately after adjournment 
of the legislature of 1877, and the necessary appropriations 
were made. 

Indiana suffered to a limited extent from the great railroad 
strike of 1877. There were some disorders, especially in Indi- 
anapolis, but no blood was spilled or property destroyed. 

Death of Oliver P. Morton. The death of Oliver P. Mor- 
ton, which occurred at his home in Indianapolis on the 1st 
of November, 1877, caused universal sorrow. He not only 
had won a prominence in the state unapproached by 
any other citizen, but occupied a commanding position in the 
councils of the nation. As chief executive of the state during 
the crisis of the Civil war, he won the designation of the ''Great 
War Governor." He pushed Indiana to the very front in 
the struggle, displaying an energy and resourcefulness unsur- 
passed by any other leader of the period. Opposed in his 
efforts by a wicked and disloyal legislature, he brushed it 
aside, and personally assumed all the functions of the state. 
But far from viewing his acts as those of a tyrant, the people 
sustained him, and gave him another legislature to legalize 
and approve his act:-;. He was a leading support and trusted 
advisor to President Lincoln and his cabinet, and bore the 
title of the ''Soldier'.s Friend." In addition to his tenure as 
governor he was twice elected United States senator, being 
in the midst of his second term when he died. He was a 
candidate for the presidential nomination in 1876, and might 
have won but for the feeble state of his health. His death 
was caused by paralysis, from which he had been a sufferer 
for more than ten 3'ears. The funeral was attended by many 
distinguished citizens of the Republic, including senators, 
congressmen, high military and naval officers, and members 
of the cabinet. In Indiana the people regarded his death 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 191 

as a great public misfortune, and as a personal sorrow, for he 
was greatly beloved, notwithstanding the abuse visited 
upon him by his political enemies. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR PORTER (1881-1885) 

Temperance Agitation; Metropolitan Police Boards. The 

republicans were successful in the election of 1880, and 
their candidate, Albert G. Porter, became the next governor. 
The national contest of that year commanded much special 
interest in Indiana because of the candidacy of W. H. English 
for Vice President on the ticket with General Hancock. 
Their successful republican opponents were James A. Gar- 
field of Ohio, and Chester A. Arthur of New York. 

At this time the temperance agitation had again become 
actively renewed, and a petition said to bear over two hun- 
dred thousand signatures was presented to the legislature 
of 1881, praying that body to pass a resolution for a con- 
stitutional amendment prohibiting the sale of intoxicating 
liquors. The legislature, which was republican, responded 
by adopting such a resolution, but it was defeated by the 
democratic legislature which the people returned the next 
year. Between the legislature of 1883 and the governor 
there was much conflict. It took out of his hands the 
appointment of a number of officers that hitherto it had been 
a part of the executive's prerogative to name. This legis- 
lature also inaugurated the system of metropolitan police 
boards, that afterwards went through so many vicissitudes, 
finally meeting repeal outright in 1909. The law was 
intended to correct political abuses in the local police admin- 
istrations of the larger cities. It provided for the appoint- 
ment of a board of three police commissioners, one of whom 
should be of opposite political faith from the other two, in 



192 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

oac'li city liavinj>; a i)()pulatiou of 29,000 or more, the appoint- 
ments to be made by the governor, and the auditor, secre- 
tary, and treasurer of state. The enemies of the system 
contended that it was violative of the principle of home rule. 

Relief of Flood Sufferers. Great floods occurred in the 
Ohio and Wabash rivers in February, 1883. Both streams 
overflowed their banks, carrying away houses and barns, 
inundating cities, towns and farms along their courses, and 
doing incalculable damage. The legislature, then in session, 
appropriated one hundred thousand dollars for the relief of 
the sufferers. 

Campaign of 1884; Indiana Man Elected Vice President. 
In the campaign of 1884 Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana 
was again the democratic candidate for Vice President, Grover 
Cleveland of New York being at the head of the ticket. 
Their republican opponents were James G. Blaine and John 
A. Logan. The opposing candidates for governor were 
It-aac P. Gray, democrat, and William H. Calkins, republican. 
Gray was formerly a republican, having been lieutenant 
governor under Governor Baker (1869-1873); he was elected 
lieutenant governor a second time in 1877, under Governor 
Williams, democrat, and upon the death of his chief in 1880 
succeeded him as acting governor. As a result of the election 
in 1884 he became governor, winning by a plurality of 7392 
votes. The democrats were successful in the national elec- 
tion also, Cleveland and Hendricks becoming President and 
Vice President. 

GOVERNOR gray's ADMINISTRATION (1885-1889) 

Governor Aspires to the Senate; a Peculiar Contest. 
Lieutenant Governor Mahlon D. Manson resigned his office 
in 1886 to accept a federal position, and thereby precipitated 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 193 

a peculiar situation and contest. At the session of 1885 
Senator A. G. Smith was chosen president pro tern. It so 
happened that a United States senator was to be elected at 
the session of 1887, and Governor Gray was an aspirant for 
the honor. Smith and his friends claimed that his election 
as president pro tern in 1885 would hold good in the session 
of 1887, giving him the right of succession to the governor- 
ship if that office should become vacant through the election 
of Governor Gray to the United States Senate, the office of 
lieutenant governor being already vacant. The prospect 
of such an outcome proved injurious to Gray's candidacy, as 
the leaders in the party were not favorable to the elevation 
of Smith to the governorship. After much discussion and 
many legal opinions it was decided that a lieutenant gov- 
ernor should be chosen by the people, at the regular election 
to be held in 1886. There is a statute providing for succes- 
sion to the governorship in case of the death, resignation 
or disability of both the governor and lieutenant governor, 
but no provision either in the constitution or the laws for 
filling a vacancy in the lieutenant governor's office. 

All parties placed candidates in the field, and R. S. Robert- 
son, a republican, received a majority of the votes. As 
stated, the senate was democratic, and at the session of 1887 
that body refused to recognize Robertson, or permit him to 
exercise the duties of his office by presiding over its sessions. 
To do so would be to put a republican in the line of succession 
to the governorship. The house of representatives, being 
republican, espoused Robertson's cause, and administered to 
him the oath of office as lieutenant governor. But it was 
all to no purpose. The senate continued to ignore him, and 
the house in retaliation boycotted the senate, denying to it 
all official recognition. And so the time of the session was 



194 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 



wasted. There was clearly no sanction of law for Robertson's 
election, and the proper procedure would have been for the 
legislature of 1887 to have elected a new president, who 
would thereby have been vested with the right of succession 
to the governorship. 

Death of Vice President Hendricks. On the 25th of 
November, 1885, Vice President Hendricks died at his home 

in Indianapolis. Mr. 
Hendricks had been 
a prominent figure in 
the public life of the 
state for a third of a 
century, and had en- 
joyed high honors at 
the hands of the 
people. He served in 
both branches of the 
national legislature, 
was governor one 
term, and at the time 
of his death was oc- 
cupying the second 
highest office in the 
gift of the people. 

Campaign of 1888; 
Benjamin Harrison of 
Indiana Elected President ; Result of State Election Mixed. 
Again in 1888 the people of Indiana had reason to feel a 
special interest in the national campaign. Not only was the 
state represented on the ticket of the Republican party by 
one of her distinguished sons, the Hon. Benjamin Harrison, 
but he headed it as a candidate for the Presidency. President 




Benjamin Harrison 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 



195 



Grover Cleveland, seeking reelection, was his democratic 
opponent. The republicans were successful and Harrison 
was elected, the result being received in Indiana with great 
acclaim. 

General Alvin P. Hovey, the republican candidate for 
governor, was also elected, but the democrats were suc- 
cessful in returning 
a majority in each 
house of the general 
assembly. 

ADMINISTRATION OF 
GOVERNOR HOVEY 

■ (1889-1891) 

Governor Hovey 
Dies in Office and is 
Succeeded by Lieu- 
tenant Governor Ira 
J. Chase; Contests 
over Patronage. 
Governor Hovey 
assumed the duties of 
his office in January, 
1889, and died No- 
vember 23, 1891. Lieutenant Governor Ira J. Chase at 
once assumed the office as acting governor, serving out the 
unexpired term. 

Differing in politics, contests between the executive and 
legislative branches of the state government were inevitable. 
During the session of 1889 Governor Hovey was stripped of 
nearly all of his official patronage, and out of the conten- 
tions and litigation which followed a supreme court decision 




Gen. Alvin P. Hovey 



196 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

finally resulted, making the state geologist and chief of the 
bureau of statistics elective offices. Previously they had 
been appointive by the governor. 

Australian. Ballot and Uniform Textbook Laws. The 
legislature of 1889 enacted the Australian ballot law, which 
was a much needed reform. It also enacted the law placing 
the selection of textbooks for use in the common schools in 
the hands of the State Board of Education, acting as a State 
Board of School Book Commissioners. This was a very use- 
ful reform in the interest of textbook uniformity, and econ- 
omy to the patrons of schools, for which much credit is due. 

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument at Indianapolis ; National 
Encampment of the G. A. R. The laying of the corner stone 
of the magnificent Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, in 
Governor's Circle, Indianapolis, August 22, 1889, was made 
the occasion of a great demonstration in honor of the veterans 
of the Civil war. There was an outpouring of citizens from 
all parts of the state, and the thousands of Grand Army men 
joined in an immense parade. President Harrison was among 
the many distinguished guests present, and honored the occa- 
sion by taking a brief part in the program. The monument 
was built from funds provided by an appropriation of $200,000 
made by the legislature of 1887. It was designed by Bruno 
Schmidt of Berlin, Germany,, and is constructed of Indiana 
stone. Its total height is two hundred sixty- eight feet. It 
is symmetrical in proportions, highly artistic in design, and 
is an object of imposing beauty as well as of patriotic interest 
and pride. Immense fountains in the form of cascades, fed 
from deep driven wells, flow from the east and the west sides. 
Just after the shaft had been completed, in September, 1893, 
the Grand Army of the Republic held its National Encamp- 
ment in Indianapolis, which served as a further celebration 




Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Indianapolis 



198 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 



of the construction of the great monument. The parade, 
which occurred on the 4th, was one of the most imposing 
that had taken place since the war, or ever will be conducted 
by the " Boys in Blue," as Age continues to lay on his 
disabilities, and Death reaps an increasing annual harvest. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR MATTHEWS (1893-1897) 

Supply of Natural Gas Softens Panic in Indiana ; President 
Harrison Defeated for Reelection ; Democrats Regain Power. 

In 1892 the democratic 
party again came into 
power in both state and 
nation. President 
Harrison went down in 
defeat in his race for 
reelection, ex-President 
Grover Cleveland being 
his successful com- 
petitor. Even Indiana, 
Harrison's own state, 
helped swell the demo- 
cratic pluralities against 
him, and elected Claude 
Matthews governor. 

For many years a 
period of almost unex- 
ampled prosperity had 
prevailed throughout the country, but a panic set in early 
in the year 1893, which for severity and long persistence 
was almost without a parallel in the country's history. 
Indiana, perhaps, had enjoyed even more than her share of 
the wonderful prosperity which prevailed prior to the panic 




Claude Matthews 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 199 

because of the impetus to all kinds of manufacturing indus- 
tries supplied by the vast deposits of natural gas so exten- 
sively developed and exploited since the year 1886. Gas 
was first discovered in Indiana in 1881, but its utilization for 
commercial purposes dates from 1886. The field, having its 
center about Anderson, covered more than four thousand 
square miles of territory, and exceeded in extent and produc- 
tiveness the gas areas of Pennsylvania, Ohio, or any other 
field so far discovered. The people thought the supply inex- 
haustible, and refused to listen to suggestions of economy 
or conservation. The new fuel was so cheap and abundant 
that it was literally supplied free to induce the location of 
manufacturing concerns. Many new industries, employing 
multitudes of men, were quickly established, and immigra- 
tion to the state swelled into a continuous stream. There 
was an increase in the value of manufactured products of 
many millions, and Indiana forged well toward the front as 
a manufacturing community. She lost a few plants when 
the gas failed, but still holds the rank of tenth among the 
manufacturing states of the Union. It is estimated that by 
1893 over $300,000,000 had been invested in Indiana fac- 
tories as a result of the boom. 

The gas remained comparatively plentiful until near the 
close of the century, and the rigors of the industrial depression 
from 1893 to 1897 were greatly tempered to the people of 
Indiana. In other sections of the country the suffering was 
great. 

Natural gas is now utilized in a limited way for domestic 
and light manufacturing purposes only. The gas area has 
also proved itself rich in petroleum deposits, and vast quan- 
tities of this valuable mineral are being produced in Indiana 
every year. 



200 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

Disorders Quelled at Hammond ; Winter Racing at Robey 
Broken Up. In 1894 it became necessary for Governor 
Matthews to send a small force of the state militia to Ham- 
mond to quell disorders growing out of the great Pullman 
car strike of that year. The governor also interfered to 
break up the '' winter racing " and gambling resort at Robey, 
in Lake County, which had become notorious, and was 
promoted almost exclusively by the sporting fraternity of 
Chicago. 

Republicans Successful in 1896; Prosperity for Eleven 
Years. The republican party regained its ascendancy in 
nearly all the Northern states at the election in 1896. Wil- 
liam McKinley was elevated to the Presidency, and James 
A. Mount became governor of Indiana. A general indus- 
trial awakening immediately followed, and an era of great 
prosperity set in which continued uninterruptedly for eleven 
years. 

The republican successes began in Indiana with the state 
election of 1894, when majorities were won in both houses 
of the general assembly for the first time since 1872. The 
entire congressional delegation was captured by the repub- 
licans at this election. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR MOUNT (1897-1901) 

Record of Apportionment Laws. In 1897 a new legislative 
apportionment law was passed, the first since 1885 that was 
not attacked in the courts. The law of 1885 was bitterly 
complained of as a democratic gerrymander. In 1893 the 
same party enacted another law, which was so flagrantly 
unjust that the supreme court declared it unconstitutional. 
In 1895 the republicans took a hand at the gerrymandering 
business, and their law was condemned by the courts. Then 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 



201 



they passed a fairer measure in 1897, which stood. Under 
the constitution the state is to be redistricted every six years, 
so in 1903, at the end of the six-year period, the repubhcan 
legislature passed another gerrymander bill which the su- 
preme court nullified on the grounds of unconstitutionality. 
Profiting by the lesson the legislature of 1905, also republican, 
enacted another law 
that proved to be more 
satisfactory, and was 
allowed to stand. Some 
effort w^as made to re- 
district the state again 
in 1909, but the two 
houses of the general 
assembly were of oppo- 
site political faith and 
could not agree upon 
the terms of a bill. 

Lynch Law in Ripley 
County; Sheriffs' Lia- 
bility Law. In 1897 
there was an outbreak 
of mob violence in 
Ripley county which 
startled the whole state. 
On the pretext of put- 
ting a stop to an epidemic of thieving and robbery in the 
community a number of citizens banded themselves together, 
and taking five of the alleged robbers from the custody of 
the sheriff, hanged them. Governor Mount made a very 
persistent effort to secure the arrest and punishment of the 
perpetrators of the crime, but without success. 




James A. Mount 



202 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

In 1901 the legislature passed an act providing that if a 
prisoner should be taken from the custody of a sheriff, or 
his deputy, and lynched, the office of such sheriff should 
immediately be vacated. The law was reenacted and 
strengthened in the revised code of 1905. With their posi- 
tions at stake it is noted that sheriffs now give excellent 
protection to prisoners in their charge. 

Indiana in Spanish-American War. The United States 
declared war against Spain, April 19, 1898, and the President 
issued calls for volunteers April 23, and May 25, the first 
for 125,000 and the second for 75,000. Indiana's quota 
under the first was four regiments of infantry and two bat- 
teries, and under the second, one regiment of infantry and 
two companies of colored troops. Total number of volun- 
teers asked for and furnished, 7301. As in the Civil war, 
the state was the first to notify the War Department that 
her quotas were ready for marching orders. The men enlisted 
were practically all from the well-organized Indiana National 
Guard. They were enthusiastic, and eager to go to the front, 
but only one battery, the 27th, was privileged to reach the 
scene of conflict. It arrived in Porto Rico about the time 
Spain sued for peace. The rest of Indiana's quota were held 
in camps at Chickamauga, and in Virginia, waiting orders. 

Duration and Purposes of the War; Results. The war 
lasted less than a hundred days, but in that time the United 
States destroyed two Spanish fleets of war and captured a 
Spanish army. The purpose of the war was to expel Spain 
from Cuba and give that island its independence. Spanish 
oppression and misgovernment in Cuba had been an offense 
to the American people for many years, and when, on the 
15th day of February, 1898, the American warship Maine 
was blown up in Havana Harbor and two hundred sixty-six 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 203 

officers and men were killed or injured, the public wrath 
would no longer be restrained. The war resulted in the 
liberation of Cuba, and the acquisition by the United States 
of the Philippines, Porto Rico and other islands. It also 
greatly enhanced the nation's prestige abroad, forcing the 
recognition, by other countries, of our position as a world 
power. 

Death of General Lawton in the Philippines. In the mili- 
tary operations which later became necessary in the Philip- 
pines to quell disorder and establish American authority. 
General Henry W. Lawton, a gallant Indiana soldier, lost 
his life. He was killed while on duty, December 19, 1899. 
An appropriate monument to his memory was erected at 
Indianapolis in 1907. 

Important Laws During Governor Mount's Administra- 
tion. Among the important measures enacted during Gover- 
nor Mount's term of office, the County and Township Reform 
law, creating the County Council and Township Advisory 
Board, and the Compulsory Education law, are especially 
worthy of mention. 

GOVERNOR DURBIN's ADMINISTRATION (1901-1905) 

Paying the State Debt; The Codification Commission. 

Colonel Winfield T. Durbin, republican, was elected gover- 
nor at the November election in 1900, defeating Hon. John 
W. Kern, the democratic candidate. The four years of 
Governor Durbin's term were signalized by a continuation 
of the period of industrial growth and general prosperity 
that dated from 1897. It was a sound and economical busi- 
ness administration, marked by large payments on the fast 
dwindling state debt. 

At the close of the administration the outside or foreign 



204 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 



debt of the state amounted to only $805,615.12, and on none 
of it was payment due until May 1, 1915. The amount is 
payable, at the option of the state, on or after May 1, 1910. 
Indications are that the debt will be entirely wiped out 
before the date of its maturity. In addition the state owes 
$340,000 on account of Purdue University bonds, $144,000 

on account of Indiana 
University bonds, and 
$100,000 of State Fair 
Pavilion bonds. The 
university bonds are 
payable any time, and 
the pavilion bonds in 
1910. 

In 1903, complying 
with an act of the 
General Assembly, 
Governor Durbin ap- 
pointed a commission 
to codify the laws of 
the state relating to 
public and private 
corporations, and 
highways and drain- 
age, and such other 
laws as the commis- 
sion might deem advisable.^ The commission made its 
report to the legislature of 1905, and most of its recom- 
mendations were accepted and enacted into law. 




WiNFiELD T. Durbin 



1 The members composing this commission were: Judge M. A. Chipman, 
Anderson; Judge T. E. Howard, South Bend; and Secretary of State 
Daniel E. Storms, acting ex officio. 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 205 

Indiana at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. In 1904 
one of the greatest international expositions ever held took 
place at St. Louis, Missouri, in commemoration of the one 
hundredth anniversary of the purchase by the United States 
of Louisiana Territory. Not alone from motives of national 
patriotism, but because of the intimate associations of the 
state's early history with the original French claims under 
the name of Louisiana, was it highly appropriate that Indiana 
should take some special note of the occasion. Accordingly 
the legislature of 1903 appropriated $150,000 for use in the 
erection of a suitable building on the exposition grounds, 
and to provide for the state's appropriate representation. 
Exhibits illustrating the state's various natural resources, 
the progress of her people in the industries, in education, 
and in the arts and sciences were installed. The represen- 
tation was in every way highly creditable, and attracted 
wide and favorable attention. 

Death of Ex-President Harrison. Ex-President Benjamin 
Harrison died at his home at Indianapolis on the 13th 
of March, 1901. Although he had suffered a protracted 
illness, and the end was expected, the news was everywhere 
received with expressions of deepest sorrow. General Harri- 
son was not only the most distinguished citizen of the state, 
but for many years had been a leading figure in the political 
life of the nation. He was a senator from Indiana from 
1881 to 1887, and President of the United States from 1889 
to 1893. He also had a military record, having served his 
country in the field during the war for the Union. By suc- 
cessive promotions in the service he attained to the rank of 
Brigadier General. 

While General Harrison was popularly reputed to be lack- 
ing in those qualities of personal magnetism thought to be 



4 fi 
i ^^ 

206 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMEkT' 

essential to success in public life, he nevertheless was greatly 
beloved, and enjoyed the respect and confidence of the people 
to an eminent degree, regardless of faction or party. No 
man possessing a superior mentality or more scholarly attain- 
ments ever occupied the executive chair of the nation. His 
administration was marked by efficiency and high ideals in 
government, and unbounded prosperity and public tranquil- 
lity reigned throughout. There was nothing to indicate popu- 
lar disapproval, or a lack of public confidence, and yet he 
was defeated for releection. The real cause for this defeat 
has never been understood, and it will doubtless continue 
among the psychological mysteries of American politics. 

Governor Durbin issued his proclamation requesting a sus- 
pension of all business activities while the body of the ex- 
President lay in state at the Capitol on the 16th. By a 
proclamation President McKinley directed the flags on the 
Executive Mansion at Washington, and all government 
buildings, displayed at half-mast for a period of thirty days. 
The funeral, which occurred on the 17th, was one of the most 
notable ever held in the state. President McKinley, with 
members of his cabinet and other distinguished visitors, in- 
cluding members of the cabinet which had surrounded the 
deceased during hir, term of office, were present. The dis- 
tinguished dead was laid to rest in Crown Hill Cemetery, 
with military and naval honors. A highly fitting inscription 
carved upon the monument erected to his fame in Univer- 
sity Park, Indianapolis, is an expression from one of his 
own matchless orations: " Great lives do not go out — they 
go on." 

Landslide Victories for the Republicans in 1904; Mr. Fair- 
banks Becomes Vice President. Again in 1904 Indiana 
found herself especially interested in the national campaign, 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 



207 



one of her talented sons, the Honorable Charles W. Fair- 
banks, having been nominated for Vice President on the 
republican ticket. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt of New 
York, who as Vice President had succeeded to the Presidency 
upon the death of William McKinley, headed the ticket. 
Their democratic competitors were Alton B. Parker of New 
York and Henry G. 
Davis of West Virginia. 
In the gubernatorial 
campaign the republi- 
can ticket was headed 
by J. Frank Hanly, 
and the democratic 
ticket by John Worth 
Kern. 

The campaign was 
fought out almost 
wholly on national 
issues. The republi- 
cans were united upon 
the protective tariff 
policy, the gold stand- 
ard as the proper 
remedy for existing 
monetary evils, and in 
indorsement of the 
territorial expansion 

policy growing out of the war with Spain. The democrats 
were divided on the monetary and expansion questions, 
and their ranks were torn by party dissensions. Then 
times were good, and the republicans, having been in power 
for eight years, claimed the credit. The result was a 




Charles W. Fairbanks 



208 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

landslide in their favor. Roosevelt and Fairbanks carried 
thirty-two of the forty-five states, and received 336 out of 
the 476 votes in the Electoral College. Their popular plu- 
rality of 2,536,282 surpassed all previous records. Hanly, the 
republican candidate for governor, was elected by the unpre- 
cedented plurality of 84,364 votes. Previously a plurality 
of twelve to twenty thousand was considered a decisive vote. 

GOVERNOR HANLy's ADMINISTRATION (1905-1909) 

An Eventful Administration. Governor Hanly 's term of 
office was crowded full of events compelling public attention. 
It will be written down as a notable period in the history of 
the state, because of the administrative and legislative reforms 
instituted, and on account of the inharmonious relations that 
developed between the governor and the legislature, and 
within the ranks of the republican party, causing its defeat 
at the next quadrennial election. 

The Anti-Cigarette Law and Charges of Bribery. At the 
legislative session of 1905 a law was enacted prohibiting the 
manufacture or sale of cigarettes within the state. It origi- 
nated in the senate, and when, after passing that body, it 
was up for consideration in the house, representative Anna- 
nias Baker rose to his feet and, waving an envelope dra- 
matically above his head, declared it contained one hundred 
dollars given to him by an emissary of the American To- 
bacco Company as a bribe to vote against the bill.^ He later 

1 The subsequent history of this sum of money is interesting. It was 
in the form of five twentj^ dollar bills, and was placed in the hands of the 
Marion County prosecutor to be preserved as evidence. At the close of his 
term, he passed it on to his successor, who retained it until after the death of 
Annanias Baker and the dismissal of the indictment against O. A. Baker, 
five years after the alleged attempt at bribery. Then the question arose as 
to what should be done with the bribe money. Neither O. A. Baker, nor 
the firm he represented, nor the family of Annanias Baker would claim it, 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 



209 



named Oscar A. Baker, since known as " Cigarette Baker/' 
as the briber. The latter hearing of the charge fled to 
Canada. A very great sensation resulted from the disclosure 
and flight. The legislature voted an appropriation of $5000 
to procure the arrest and conviction of the alleged briber, 
but without result. After the death, in 1909, of Annanias 
Baker, the only accus- 
ing witness, the fugi- 
tive O. A. Baker 
returned, knowing 
successful prosecution 
thereafter to be im- 
possible. The Anti- 
Cigarette law, which 
caused all the trouble, 
proved to be inopera- 
tive, and was repealed 
in 1909. 

State Officers 
Forced to Resign and 
Replace Misappropri- 
ated Funds ; Auditor 
Prosecuted and Im- 
prisoned ; Investigat- 
ing Former Officials. 
In the early fall of 
1905 Governor Hanly demanded the resignation of Auditor 

for obvious reasons, and the state had no right to it. So it was finally made 
to appear that it belonged to the prosecutor, on the theory that ownership 
of abandoned or unclaimed property falls to the person who has possession 
of it. But the prosecutor could not retain it with self-respect, under the 
circumstances, and he donated it to the Home for Aged and Friendless 
Women at Indianapolis, a final disposition of the money which met with 
general approval. 




J. Frank Hanly 



210 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

of State David E. Sherrick, and that he make restitution to 
the state of an alleged shortage in his accounts. The demand 
was later complied with, Sherrick returning funds misappro- 
priated, principal and interest, amounting to $156,367.31. 
The governor then caused him to be indicted and prosecuted 
for embezzlement. He was convicted and sentenced to state 
prison, but after a brief confmement the judgment of the 
court passing sentence was reversed on an error, or some 
defect in the indictment, and his release ordered. 

Adjutant General John R. Ward was next forced to resign 
because of overdrafts in his accounts, which he endeavored 
to explain on the ground of clerical errors. He made resti- 
tution of $1510.44. 

Daniel E. Storms, secretary of state, was shortly after- 
wards confronted with a demand for an accounting. He 
resisted for a time, but later resigned under pressure from 
the governor, correcting irregularicies in his accounts to the 
amount of $8139.85. 

The governor had experts examine the books of all these 
officers, and when the work was completed they were directed 
to examine the accounts and records of former state auditors, 
back to the year 1872. The result was that claims were 
made against former officials of misappropriations of fees 
and insurance taxes, and moneys from other sources, amount- 
ing, together with interest and penalties accruing thereon, 
as follows: 

Former Auditor James H. Rice (1883-1887) $108,877.74 
Bruce Carr (1887-1891) 75,988.24 

J. O. Henderson (1891-1895) 101,158.65 
A. C. Daily (1895-1899) 26,034.51 

A discrepancy of $347.50 was found in the accounts of 
former Auditor M. D. Manson (1879-1881), which appeared 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 211 

to have been an honest error. Rice and Carr were both 
dead, their estates insolvent, and suits on their bonds barred 
by the statute of hmitations. Suits were instituted against 
Henderson and Daily. 

The Daily case was carried to the supreme court upon 
appeal, and the judgment of the Boone County circuit court, 
which was favorable to the state, reversed. In the com- 
plaint it was alleged that the defendant, Daily, while auditor 
of state, had collected and wrongfully retained certain in- 
surance taxes, which, together with interest and penalties 
thereon, amounted to the sum sued for. The suprem.e court 
decision was to the effect that the collection of such taxes 
was not a part of the auditor's official duties; that he had 
no right to make such collections, either as an official or an 
individual; that the money was not paid to him under the 
authority of the state; that such payment was not ratified 
by the state, and that in his hands the money did not become 
the property of the state; that, therefore, the state had no 
legal right to the money so collected and paid, and could 
not sue for it. Nor was the payment of taxes to the state 
by the insurance companies accomplished by such payment 
to the auditor. The law plainly directs that the taxes shall 
be paid into the treasury of the state, and not to the auditor, 
and of this fact foreign insurance companies, and the courts, 
are bound to take notice. The companies were plainly liable 
to payment of their taxes over again, but the state had no 
legal right of recovery against Daily. 

The Henderson case was allowed to wait the issue of the 
Daily suit, and a compromise settlement was finally agreed 
upon whereby the state accepted a refund of $10,000, and 
the suit was dismissed. 

The insurance companies, or a majority of them, paid 



212 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

their taxes over again rather than risk forfeiture of their 
Hcenses to write further business in the state, but they paid 
under protest, expecting to seek a remedy in the courts. 

In his biennial message to the General Assembly in 1907 
the governor reported that the total recoveries of misappio- 
priated funds up to that time amounted to $189,460.41. 

The Public Depository Law; an Old Custom that Caused 
Trouble. Nothing c^uite so sensational as these disclosures 
had occurred in the political life of the state for many years. 
They gave rise to a demand for stricter supervision of public 
offices, which was responsible to a large degree for the enact- 
ment of a Public Depository Law at the session of 1907. 
Another purpose of this law was to break up what had come 
to be known as " political banking." The law has proved 
itself of great value, not only in the enforcement of better 
business methods in the care and handling of public funds, 
state, county, and municipal, but by securing to the tax- 
payers the interest on such funds. Formerly either the funds 
yielded no interest, or if so it went into the pockets of the 
officials. 

It was the temptation thus to profit by the handling of 
public moneys that led to the difficulties in which Auditor 
Sherrick and Secretary of State Storms found themselves 
when confronted by the demand of the governor for an 
accounting. They were simply following an old custom of 
indulging in a temporary diversion of state funds in their 
charge, expecting to restore them before quitting office. 
Pleading this custom, while not endeavoring especially to 
defend it, both Sherrick and Storms thought they were 
harshly dealt with. They had many friends who held the 
same view, and their deposition and Sherrick's prosecution 
caused much bitterness. The custom is now no longer pos- 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 213 

sible, both by reason of a more healthful public sentiment, 
and because of the Public Depository Law and other remedial 
legislation. 

Important Educational Measures. A number of very 
important educational measures were enacted during this 
administration. The governor appointed a state educa- 
tional commission early in 1906 to examine into the needs 
of the public schools and the plea of the teachers for a better 
rate of pay for their services.^ The commission submitted 
its report to the session of 1907, and its recommendations 
were enacted into laws. Chief among these measures were 
the teachers' Minimum Wage and Qualifications law, which 
raised the minimum standards both of qualifications and pay ; 
the law providing for the establishment of departments of 
normal instruction for teachers in the non-state colleges; the 
law establishing a uniform course of study for high schools; 
and a law providing for the lengthening of the school terms 
where desired locally. 

Swelling Tide of Temperance Sentiment. The temper- 
ance sentiment in the state began to show a rising tide again 
from about the year 1890. In 1895 the Nicholson Remon- 
strance law was passed, by means of which a majority of the 
legal voters in any township or city ward, by signing a 
remonstrance, could compel the revocation of any dealer's 
license to sell liquors. The Moore amendment to this law, 
enacted in 1905, extended the privilege of the voters so that 
they could remonstrate against the saloon business per se in 
the unit represented by the township or ward. Eagerly tak- 

* The members of this commission were: Supt. B. F. Moore, chairman, 
Muncie; State Senator Edward E. Moore, Connersville; State Senator L. Ert 
Slack, Frankhn; Representative Thomas D. Shmp, Washington; Will S. 
Ritchie, Lebanon; County Supt. John W. Lewis, Wabash; Edgar Webb, 
Attica. 

Moore, Ind. — 14 



214 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

ing advantage of this enlarged privilege, the people not only 
remonstrated the saloons out of hundreds of townships and 
city wards all over the state, but they made whole counties 
- dry." 

Fight over Vincennes University Claim. In 1907 the 
general assembly passed a bill directing the issue of $120,548 
in bonds payable to Vincennes University, in settlement of 
a claim long urged because of the sale by the state, in the 
year 1823, of 19,040 acres of land, being a part of a 23,040 
acre tract set aside by Congress for the benefit of the Univer- 
sity. The money realized from the sale was appropriated to 
the use of Indiana University, Bloomington. The governor ve- 
toed the bill, claiming that Vincennes University had been fully 
reimbursed in previous settlements, and the general assem- 
bly promptly passed the measure over his veto. Later, when 
the bonds were presented to him, he refused to sign them, 
and in his message to the special session of 1908 urged a 
repeal of the law whereby the bonds were authorized, but 
in vain. His tenure of office ended soon afterwards, and his 
successor, Thomas R. Marshall, signed the bonds. But this 
did not settle the matter, or Mr. Hanly, as a citizen and tax- 
payer, brought injunctive proceedings to prevent the secre- 
tary of state from attaching his signature. The superior 
court of Marion County, before which the case was tried, 
rendered a decision favorable t© the University, but an appeal 
was taken to the supreme court, and was still pending at the 
time of the publication of this book. 

Estrangement Between the Governor and the Legislature. 
Governor Hanly also made very earnest recommendations to 
the legislature of 1907 on the subject of insurance legislation, 
which recommendations were not satisfactorily complied 
with from his point of view. These, and other differences 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 215 

which arose; led to estrangement between the governor 
and a large majority of the members of the general assembly, 
regardless of party. Not only were his views and recom- 
mendations disregarded, or purposely antagonized, but he 
was made the object of bitter public attacks in both cham- 
bers, and numerous bills were passed over his veto. 

Raids on Gambling Resorts. In line with his policy of 
strict law enforcement the governor caused raids to be made 
on the gambling resorts which were being conducted in con- 
nection with the hotels for tourists and health-seekers at 
French Lick and Wect Baden. A large quantity of gambling 
paraphernalia was captured and later destroyed. Suits were 
brought upon the evidence procured through the raids, but 
with inconclusive results, except to stop the open and flagrant 
violations of the law that had obtained so long. The officers 
and courts in Orange County, where the resorts are located, 
had persistently failed or refused to take action looking to 
suppression of the vice. The governor's efforts were directed 
through the office of the attorney general of the state. 

Anti-Saloon Warfare Reaches Crisis ; Party Nominees and 
Platform Declarations. A crisis in the temperance move- 
ment, which had continued to grow more formidable, was 
destined to furnish the grand finale of the Hanly administra- 
tion. A nonpartisan organization, known as the Anti-Saloon 
League, had appeared in the state, and its work among mem- 
bers of all political parties was highly effective. Other influ- 
ences were also continually at work, preparing the people 
for a final assault upon the intrenched liquor traffic, with a 
view to its complete extermination. Mention has already 
been made of the Nicholson Remonstrance law of 1895, and 
the Moore amendment to it, adopted just ten years later. 
Another step forward was attempted in 1907, when a bill 



216 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

was presented raising the saloon license fee to one thousand 
dollars. This was defeated by a grand rally of the brewery 
and saloon interests, but subsequent events indicate that it 
was a costly victory for them. It merely aroused the people 
to a more determined effort, and the agitation became so 
widespread and persistent that the democratic party, at its 
state convention in 1908, placed a plank in its platform 
declaring for a ward and township local option law. The 
republican party, which held its convention a little later, 
went farther and declared for a county option law. The 
party nominees for governor were Thomas R. Marshall, 
democrat, and James E. Watson, republican. 

From the beginning of the campaign the temperance ques- 
tion was clearly the paramount issue. The republicans 
charged that the democratic declaration wias prompted by 
the brewery interests — that it was in reality designed to 
head off more effective anti- saloon legislation, and cripple or 
destroy the existing remonstrance law. The democrats met 
the charge of an alliance between their party and the liquor 
interests with a general denial, and defended the township 
option unit as against the county unit. 

Goveraor Calls Special Session of Legislature ; Option Law 
Passed ; Republicans Meet Crushing Defeat. In the midst 
of the discussion Governor Hanly threw a bomb into the 
camps of both parties by calling a special session of the legis- 
lature to meet on the 18th of September, 1908. The 
leaders were in consternation, for they could not figure out 
which party would likely be hurt the worst by a legislative 
session opening less than sixty days before the election. And 
knowing his personal attitude, it was also regarded ascertain 
that the governor would endeavor to secure a carrying out 
of the republican platform pledge at this special session, 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 217 

before the people could register their verdict, either for or 
against it. True to the forecast, he did make the attempt, 
and it was successful. The County Local Option law was 
passed after a memorable struggle, nearly all of the repub- 
lican members and a few democrats voting for it, and a few 
republicans and the bulk of the democrats voting against it. 

To what extent the result really did influence the people's 
verdict at the polls in November will continue to be a mooted 
question, but certain it is that the republicans, all things con- 
sidered, suffered a crushing defeat. The democrats elected 
their candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, state 
superintendent of public instruction, and a large majority 
in the house of representatives, while the republicans saved 
the other state offices and the senate by the slenderest of 
margins. The state also gave the republicans a small plu- 
rality on the national ticket, but the democrats elected 
eleven out of the thirteen members of Congress to which the 
state was entitled, and, having a majority on joint ballot in 
the general assembly, they elected B. F. Shively, of their 
party, to the United States Senate, retiring Senator James A. 
Hemenway, a republican. 

The reverse to the republicans was hailed joyously by the 
liquor interests as their victory, and they looked forward to 
an early repeal of the County Option law. In this, however, 
they were doomed to sore disappointment. When the gen- 
eral assembly convened in regular session in January, 1909, 
a repeal bill was immediately introduced in the house, and 
here the liquor forces found a large element of the demo- 
cratic membership lined up with the practically solid repub- 
lican front against repeal. The bill finally got through by a 
small majority and was sent to the senate, where it met 
defeat. So the option law was allowed to stand. 



218 ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 

Vice Presidential Candidate From Indiana; Record of the 
State in National Politics. In the campaign of 1908 Indiana 
was represented on the national democratic ticket by the 
vice presidential candidacy of the Hon. John Worth Kern. 
William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska headed the ticket, 
making his third unsuccessful race for the coveted honor of a 
term in the White House. William H. Taft of Ohio, and 
James S. Sherman of New York, were the republican nomi- 
nees, and they were elected overwhelmingly. Their plu- 
rality in Indiana, however (10,731), appeared meager when 
compared to the record-breaking Roosevelt and Fairbanks 
plurality of 93,944 in the previous campaign. 

Considering her modest rank among the states when voting 
populations are compared, Indiana appears to have exerted 
her full share of influence in national politics during the last 
half-century. She has to her credit one term in the Presi- 
dency, and three terms incumbency by distinguished sons 
in the vice presidential office. Counting from 1868, there 
have been eleven presidential elections since the Civil war, 
and in eight of these Indiana supplied either the presidential 
or the vice presidential candidate for one or the other of the 
two leading parties.^ Only in the campaigns of 1872, 1896, 

1 In addition to these preferments Indiana has enjoj-ed frequent repre- 
sentation in the cabinets of the Presidents. Caleb B. Smith was Secretary 
of the Interior under Abraham Lincoln from 1861 to 1863. John P. Usher, 
another Indiana man, succeeded him, serving out his unexpired term and 
continuing through the administration of Andrew Johnson. Smith resignetl 
to accept appointment as United States Circuit Judge for Indiana. Hugh 
McCuUough was Secretary of the Treasury under three Presidents, viz., 
Lincoln, Johnson, and Arthur. James N. Tyner served as Postmaster General 
under Grant and Ricliard W. Thompson was Secretary' of the Navy under 
Hayes; John W. Foster was Secretary of State, and W. H. H. Miller, Attorney 
General, under Harrison. Walter Q. Gresham was first Postmaster General, 
then Secretary of the Treasury, under President Arthur, and Secretary of 
State in Cleveland's second administration. 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 219 

and 1900 has the state failed to be represented on one ticket 
or the other. For this frequent bestowal of high honors the 
state is indebted, in a measure, to her reputation for fickle- 
ness in politics. She is nearly always in the " doubtful 
column," and the vice presidential nomination especially, 
when tendered, is generally interpreted as a strong bid for her 
vote. The fact, however, is not cited in disparagement of 
the men so nominated. Nowhere else in the Union is the 
political game played more astutely than in Indiana, and the 
state may be looked to with confidence at any time to supply 
any grade of talent desired. 

A remarkable thing about the state is that when she 
climbs down off the political fence she nearly always alights 
on the winning side. Since gaining admission to the Union in 
1816 Indiana hasparticipated in twenty-three presidential elec- 
tions, and in only four of these has she failed to cast her elec- 
toral vote for the successful candidate. So the loyal Hoosier 
may well contend that the uncertainty of the state's affilia- 
tions from one election to another is owing not to caprice, but 
to the fact that her voters lead the political judgment of 
the country. Whatever the explanatioxi the record is unique. 

Panic of 1907. A money stringency overtook the country 
in the fall of 1907, having its origin in financial circles in 
New York city. The trouble spread, and finally grew to the 
proportions of a panic. A small number of banks failed, 
and many others suspended specie payment temporarily, issu- 
ing cashier's certificates, or scrip, in lieu of money. The 
industries, and trade along all lines, were affected, thousands 
of men were thrown out of employment, and the people 
experienced a return of " hard times." The trouble con- 
tinued well into the summer of 1909, when confidence began 
to return. Financiers and statesmen disagree widely as to 



220 



ERA OF MO DERM DEVELOPMENT 



what caused the trouble in the first place, but few doubt that 
its continuance was owing largely to the proximity of a 
national election, and the fact that both the great parties 
were pledged to a revision of the tariff. A new tariff law, 
in substantial fulfillment of the pledge of the dominant party, 
went into effect in September, 1909, since which time normal 

conditions of prosperity 
have prevailed. Indi- 
ana suffered as little 
from the panic, perhaps, 
as any other state. 

ADMINISTRATION OF 
THOMAS R. MARSHALL 

(1909- ) 

Results of County Op- 
tion Elections. Thomas 
R. Marshall took the 
oath of office as gov- 
ernor January 11, 1909. 
In his inaugural address, 
and in his first message 
to the legislature, he 
took strong grounds in 
favor of economy in 
state and local administrations, and the noninterference of 
any one branch of the state government with the functions 
of the others. 

Among the more important acts of the legislature of 1909 
were the passage of a law providing for a system of state 
examination of all public offices and municipal corporations, 
and the repeal of the Metropolitan Police law. 




Thomas R. Marshall 



ERA OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT 221 

Temperance advocates began calling elections under the 
provisions of the County Local Option law early in 1909, 
and by late spring of the following year elections had been held 
in 81 of the 92 counties, each election being preceded by an 
exciting campaign. The contending forces were known as the 
" wets " and the " drys." Public meetings, and grand pa- 
rades, participated in by women and children as well as by 
men, were customary features of the dry campaigns. The 
wets held few public meetings, but were lavish with news- 
paper and poster advertising, and used funds generously in 
getting out their vote at the elections. Out of the 81 coun- 
ties voting, 68 rendered their verdicts in favor of the banish- 
ment of the saloons, and thirteen voted for their retention. Two 
of the remaining eleven counties were already '' dry " by 
remonstrance, making a total of seventy counties, from which 
the saloons, at the close of the campaign, were excluded. 
And in all of the twenty-two counties still remaining " wet " 
there are '' dry" townships and city .wards, made so through 
the instrumentality of the remonstrance law. Really, the 
most impressive statement of the results of the temperance 
movement may be found in the fact that at the beginning 
of 1910, 922 of the 1016 townships of the state were dry. 



CHAPTER XIV 
A CENTURY'S PROGRESS 

Growth in Population; Railroads, Telegraphs, Tele- 
phones; Agriculture. During her ninety-four years of 
statehood Indiana has made a record of growth in popu- 
lation, and of commercial and industrial development, that 
seldom has been equalled. Her population in 1815, as ascer- 
tained by a special census taken in preparation for statehood, 
was 63,897; in 1816 it was estimated at 70,000. In 1900 
this meager population had grown to 2,516,462, and presum- 
ing upon a proximate continuance of the rate of growth 
which obtained from 1890 to 1900, the thirteenth United 
States census, now being completed, is expected to show a 
present population of not less than 2,850,000. By the time 
the century of statehood is rounded out in 1916 the number 
of the state's inhabitants will have passed the 3,000,000 
mark. Territorially Indiana ranks well toward the bottom 
of the column of states, her position being thirty-fifth, but 
in population she ranks eighth. At the time of her admis- 
sion into the Union in 1816, there were but thirteen organized 
counties in the state, and three fourths of the land area was 
still owned by the Indians. In northern and central Indiana 
the forests were practically unbroken and the prairies un- 
tamed. There were no means of transportation, or of carry- 
ing on commerce, except by wagon or pack-animals and the 
slight use that could be made of the natural streams and 
watercourses. Now there are ninety-two counties, and the 
state is noted far and wide for its agricultural develop- 

222 



A CENTURTS PROGRESS 



223 



ment and the productiveness of its farms. For transpor- 
tation facilities we have 7165 miles of steam railways and 
over 2000 miles of electric lines, piercing and crisscross- 
ing every part of the state. In 1860 there were 2126 miles 
of steam roads, and no electric roads. Only two small coun- 
ties are now devoid of railroad facilities.^ For other means 




Spring Plowing in Indiana 

(From Photo by W. H. Bass, Indianapolis) 

of rapid communication, and the interchange of intelligence, 
we have 59,500 miles of telegraph lines and 235,000 miles of 
telephone lines. The state ranks fourth among her sister 
commonwealths in the production of wheat, sixth in the pro- 
duction of corn, sixth in the production of oats, and seventh 
in the production of hay. If the comparison were made upon 
a basis of equality in acreage, she would lead all her rivals. 

1 Ohio and Switzerland. 



224 A CENTURrS PROGRESS 

The respective yields of the leading crops in 1908 were: 
Wheat, 32,746,143 bushels; corn, 120,447,582 bushels; oats, 
31,368,570 bushels; potatoes, 4,143,048 bushels; hay, 3,807,- 
413 tons. An official estimate places the corn yield for 1909 
at 196,520,000 bushels-. 

Manufacturing Industries and Natural Resources. As a 
manufacturing state Indiana ranks tenth. In the making of 
vehicles — wagons, carriages, etc. • — she ranks first. The 
investments in manufacturing concerns in 1905 amounted to 
$312,671,234, and the annual output was valued at $393,954,- 
405. In 1810, just a hundred years ago, the total manufac- 
tures of the territory, as reported to the United States Trea- 
sury Department, amounted in value to $196,532. 

In the state's mining products a source of almost boundless 
wealth has been uncovered. To some the information that 
Indiana ranks sixth among the states in its production of 
bituminous coal may come as a surprise. The output in 
1908 amounted to 11,997,304 tons, and there yet remain 
13,621,600,000 tons of workable coal for the use of future 
generations.^ Indiana also possesses a large petroleum area, 
but because of the opening of new and heavily producing fields 
elsewhere the production here is steadily declining. The value 
of the output for the last eighteen years has averaged $4,361,- 
393 annually. The mining of a high grade of building stone 
has also developed into a mammoth industry. The annual 
output of the oolitic limestone quarries exceeds $3,500,000. 

Progress along Educational Lines; Humane Laws and 
Administration; Care for the State's Wards. And not alone 
in the development of her resources, and in material things, 
has Indiana moved forward. Free schools were unknown 
and all but impossible at the time of the adoption of the first 

1 Estimate by State Geologist. 



A CENTURY'S PROGRESS 225 

constitution, and even as late as 1852 a law making provision 
for a three months' term in every school district was consid- 
ered radical legislation. Now the minimum term permitted 
by law is six months, attendance is compulsory, and if a child 
lives beyond convenient walking distance from a good school, 
the state transports him there and back each day free of 
charge. Not stopping at a free common-school education, 
the state now guarantees a free high-school education to 
every youth who will avail himself of it. Institutions of 
higher learning are maintained for those who desire the goal 
of a finished education. Almost thirteen millions of dollars 
are spent annually for the maintenance of free public schools 
in Indiana. The exact amount in 1908 was $12,879,015, as 
against $2,278,588 in 1853. 

The humane rule laid down in the constitution that the 
penal code shall be founded on the principles of reformation, 
and not of vindictive justice, has met with a liberal observ- 
ance both in the statutes framed by the state's lawmakers 
and in the administration of justice by the courts. The fact 
is also made prominent by the state's reformatory system of 
detention, coupled with the industrial education of prisoners, 
and the application of the parole law. 

A liberal policy is observed in the matter of provision for 
the care of the state's unfortunate wards, and the safeguard- 
ing of the health of the community. To the educational 
institutions for the benefit of defectives, such as the deaf and 
the blind, and the benevolent institutions in the form of 
asylums for the insane, a school for feeble-minded youth, the 
Soldiers' Home, and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' 
Home, there have recently been added a Village for Epilep- 
tics, and an institution and settlement for the care and treat- 
ment of tuberculosis sufferers. 



226 A CENTURTS PROGRESS 

From Hoosierism to Literary Supremacy. And whether 
its attainment be attributed to the schools, the soil, or the 
clime, we presume there is none who would now have the 
hardihood to deny Indiana's safe position among the proudest 
of the states in the culture and intelligence of her citizens. 
If there really could have been an excuse for singling out 
the people of Indiana to wear the epithet of " Hoosier," 
applied in the sense of " Country Jake," or " Rube," at a 
time when they were busy cutting down the forests, draining 
the swamps and building roads, and had little time for schools 
and the social refinements, the occasion has long since passed. 
There is no reason why the sobriquet should continue to 
stick, except through the patience and good humor of the 
people, who adopted it, and have made it a badge of honor. " 
The prevalent notion that the term originated in the state 
through some uncouth expression of the natives, or the igno- 
rant running together of words by the early settlers, is doubt- 
less a mistake. It is synonymous with " hayseed " or '' jay," 
and was probably imported into the territory by early immi- 
grants from the mountainous regions to the south and east 
of us. Not only has Indiana outgrown any excuse for 
reproach or ridicule on che score of alleged crudity, but she 
has advanced to a point where her people enjoy a sort of 
literary supremacy that has set the wits to work along a 
different line.^ 

Speaking soberly of the matter, Indiana of course does not 

^ Wilbur Nesbit, in an after-dinner speech before a meeting of the " Sons 
of Indiana" at Chicago, declared that "envious outsiders look up from their 
Hoosier books long enough to speak satirically of Indiana as the literary- 
belt. They mention the dialect-poetry regions, and the historical novel 
districts, and the counties wherein the ballad and rondeau flourish with the 
prodigality of commerce. They have even prepared maps showing by 
means of shaded and unshaded portions where the traveler must strike in 
order to find or avoid certain brands of literature." 



A CENTURY'S PROGRESS 227 

claim that her galaxy of stars occupies the literary firmament 
to the exclusion and absolute dimming of all others — her 
alleged " pose " to that efTect being one of imputation rather 
than of assumption — and yet her sons and daughters have 
done very well indeed. Among the writers who have reflected 
credit upon the state brief mention may appropriately be 
made of a select few. Foremost among these is Gen. Lew 
Wallace, whose Ben Hur attained a popularity approaching 
that of Uncle Tom's Cabin. It has been translated into 
almost every modern language. Two additional books by 
Wallace are The Fair God, and A Prince of India. 

Other Indiana writers, named purely at random without 
discrimination as to relative grades of merit, and with inciden- 
tal mention of one or more of their principal productions, 
are Edward Eggleston, author of The Hoosier Schoolmaster ; 
George Gary Eggleston, The First of the Hoosiers; John B. Dil- 
lon, an excellent state history ; John Law, Colonial History of 
Vincennes; William H. English, Conquest of the Country 
Northwest of the Ohio; Robert Dale Owen, Footfalls on the 
Boundary of Another World, and Beyond the Breakers; William 
H. Smith, A History of Indiana; Oliver H. Smith, Early 
Indiana Trials and Sketches; John Finly, poet. The Hoosier' s 
Nest, and Bachelor's Hall; James Baldwin, The Book Lover, 
Story of Siegfried, and several series of school readers ; Robert 
Underwood Johnson, editor of The Century; William F. 
Clarke, editor of St. Nicholas; Sarah T. Bolton, poetess, 
author of Paddle Your Own Canoe; Benjamin S. Parker, poet; 
Judge Millard Cox, The Legionaries; Caroline Krout,^ 
Knights in Fustian; Cincinnatus Heine (Joaquin) Miller, 
Poet of the Sierras, now a resident of California; James Whit- 
comb Riley, one of the greatest of contemporary poets; David 

^ The works of this writer appear under the name of Carohne Brown. 



228 A CENTURTS PROGRESS 

Graham Phillips, The Plum Tree, The Deluge, and The 
Hungry Heart; John Clark Ridpath, A Cyclopedia of Uni- 
versal History, and A New Complete History of the United 
States; Maurice Thompson, Alice of Old Vincennes; William 
Dudley Foulke, Life of Oliver P. Morton; Jacob P. Dunn, 
Indiana, A Redemption from Slavery ; William Wesley Woollen, 
Biographical and Historical Sketches; Amos W. Butler, Birds 
0/ /ndiana; William Watson Woollen, also a writer on bird 
life and nature; Meredith Nicholson, A House of a Thou- 
sand Candles, and The Hoosiers; George Ade, Fables in Slang, 
and Breaking into Society; George B. Lockwood, The New 
Harmony Movement; Senator Albert J. Beveridge, The Rus- 
sian Advance, The Young Man and the World, and Meaning 
of the Times; Charles Major, When Knighthood wasin Flower; 
Booth Tarkington, The Gentleman from Indiana, and Mon- 
sieur Beaucaire; Julia Henderson Levering, Historic Indiana; 
Wilbur Nesbit, A Gentleman Ragman; George Barr Mc- 
Cutcheon, Castle Craneycrow, and Beverly of Graustark; Kin 
Hubbard, the Abe Martin sketches; Annie Fellows Johnston, 
the Little Colonel series; David M. Parry, The Scarlet Em- 
pire; Elizabeth Miller, The Yoke; Frederick Landis, For 
the Glory of His Country. John Hay, author of a life of 
Lincoln, and reputed author of The Breadwinners, was born 
in Indiana. Many others might be mentioned. 

In no civilized country do the people enjoy a greater 
measure of civil and religious liberty, or have a larger share 
in the conduct of public affairs, than in Indiana. Under the 
influence of such institutions and laws, and through the indus- 
try, courage, high purpose, and far-sighted liberalism of the 
people of this and past generations, the state has grown, and 
developed, and prospered marvelously, and its future is bright 
with the promise of added greatness. 



CHAPTER XV 
INDIANA CIVICS 

Changes in Sovereignty; Evolution of Government. It is 

the purpose in this chapter not merely to give a treatise on 
the abstract theories of civil government, but rather to 
outline in simple language the machinery by which the state 
and local governments are operated, and recount briefly the 
steps leading to their formation. 

The French claimed sovereignty over the territory now 
comprised within the state of Indiana from the first explora- 
tion of the Ohio River by Sieur de La Salle in 1669, until 
the surrender to England in 1763. Indiana was a part of 
Louisiana, the vast territory which La Salle formally took 
possession of in the name of his king in 1682. The estab- 
lishment of the post at Ouiatenon about the year 1720 was 
the first real assumption of governmental authority in what 
is now Indiana. A post (Miamis) was established near the 
site of the present city of Fort Wayne sometime after Oui- 
atenon, and the post at Vincennes, according to the best 
information obtainable, was established in the year 1731. 
Vincennes was controlled from New Orleans, and the other 
two posts from Canada, though all were French. 

The French surrendered to England in 1763, but repre- 
sentatives of the Enghsh government were not able to take 
charge at once. Vincennes, especially, was devoid of any 
legally constituted government from the date of cession until 
1777. Counting from the establishment of the first post at 
Ouiatenon, the actual French occupation lasted forty-three 

229 



INDIANA CIVICS 231 

years (1720-1763). The English were in charge scarcely 
two years (1777-1779). So together the French and English 
occupied the territory forty-five years, during which time 
neither accomplished a great deal in the way of perfecting a 
local or territorial government. Especially did they fail to 
establish any system of courts worthy of the name. 

In 1778, before the expulsion of the British was an accom- 
plished fact, Virginia organized all of the Northwest Terri- 
tory into the County of Illinois, and commissioned Colonel 
John Todd to govern it under the title of County Lieutenant. 
(See Chapter VII, on Early Jurisdictions.) He arrived the next 
year, and instituted a semblance of government at Vincennes 
and Kaskaskia. A number of magistrates were elected and 
authorized to hold courts, but these courts, or at any rate 
the one at Vincennes, came dangerously near being corrupt, 
and commanded but little confidence or respect from the 
people. 

Virginia surrendered the Northwest Territory to the gen- 
eral government in 1784, for the benefit of all the states, and 
three years later Congress enacted the famous Ordinance of 
1787. During those three years the territory was without any 
legally constituted authority responsible for its government. 

Territorial Government under Ordinance of 1787. The 
leading features of the Ordinance of 1787, with the form of 
government provided by it for the people of the territory, 
are set forth in sufficient detail in Chapter VII, on Early 
Jurisdictions. 

The fact may have been justified by the primitive condi- 
tions of the times, and lack of preparation on the part of the 
newly formed population for the intelligent exercise of the 
privileges of self-government, but it is nevertheless true that 
the form of territorial government provided in the ordinance 



232 INDIANA CIVICS 

contained in it very little that was democratic. The gover- 
nor, the secretary, the judges, and one branch of the legis- 
lature were appointive by the President and Congress, and 
the minor officers, including the magistrates and civil officers 
in the counties and townships, were appointive by the gover- 
nor. The people had the bare privilege of electing the mem- 
bers of the lower house of the legislature under the second 
grade of government. Even then they were hedged about 
with residence, race, and property qualifications, until the 
franchise was enjoyed by a small percentage of the population 
only. Such property qualifications were also required of the 
officers to be appointed or elected as to insure their selection 
from the wealthier and more favored classes. The governor 
was made a part of the legislature, and at the same time 
had the power of absolute veto over its acts. He also had 
authority to convene, prorogue or dissolve the assembly 
when he saw fit. That the people were neither dense nor 
indifferent to these nondemocratic conditions is proved by 
the agitation which was carried on almost from the first for 
an extension of the right of suffrage. 

The possibilities of abuses growing out of official power so 
far removed from accountability to the people were also 
recognized, and were deprecated by the first legislative coun- 
cil appointed for Indiana Territory. The members replied 
by resolution to Governor Harrison's first message in 1805: 
" Although we are not as completely independent in our 
legislative capacity as we would wish to be, yet we are sen- 
sible that we must wait with patience for that period of time 
when our population will burst the trammels of a territorial 
government, and we shall assume the character more con- 
sonant to republicanism. . . . The confidence which our 
fellow citizens have uniformly had in your administration 



INDIANA CIVICS 233 

has been such that they have hitherto had no reason to be 
jealous of the unhmited power which you possess over our 
legislative proceedings. We, however, cannot help regretting 
that such powers have been lodged in the hands of any one — 
especially when it is recollected to what dangerous lengths 
the exercise of those powers may be extended." 

To the lasting credit of that body, be it said, Congress 
was responsive to the demands of the people for an enlarged 
share in the government. The franchise was extended, prop- 
erty qualifications lowered and finally removed altogether, 
and in 1809 the people were given the right to elect their 
delegate in Congress, and the members of the legislative 
council. But the things withheld under the territorial gov- 
ernment by the ordinance were more than compensated for 
in the provisions for statehood contained in that instrument, 
and the guarantees under the United States Constitution 
adopted the same year. The territorial government was a 
thing of mere temporary existence at the best. The state 
government was designed for perpetuity. 

Divisions of the Territory. The first division of the North- 
west Territory took place in 1800, when Ohio was separated 
from the rest of the territory and organized. The remainder 
of the region was then called Indiana Territory. Michigan 
was set off in 1805, and Illinois in 1809, leaving Indiana 
reduced to her present geographical size. 

Building a New State. In response to a request of the 
territory, through its legislature, to be permitted to form a 
state government, Congress passed the Enabling Act of April 
19, 1816. This act defined the boundaries of the proposed 
new state, and stipulated that the constitution and state 
government should be republican in form " and not repug- 
nant to the articles of the Ordinance of the 13th of July, 



234 INDIANA CIVICS 

1787," which were declared to be '' irrevocable between the 
original states and the people and states of the territory north- 
west of the river Ohio." 

Certain propositions were made in this Enabling Act to 
the people of the proposed new state, and left to their " free 
acceptance or rejection." They were offers of land grants 
and concessions: (1) The grant by Congress of section sixteen 
in each township for the use of schools; (2) a free grant of 
the salt springs in the territory, and the land reserved for 
their use, not to exceed thirty-six entire sections, for the 
benefit of the people of the state; (3) a free concession of 
five per cent of the net proceeds of the sale of all Congres- 
sional land3, for use in building public roads and canals; ^ 
(4) the grant of a township of land for a seminary of 
learning; (5) four sections of land for a location for a per- 
manent seat of government. All that was asked in return 
was that lands sold by the Government from and after the 
first day of December, 1816, should be exempt from taxation 
by the state, or any county or local government, for a period 



1 Three fifths of this fund was to be applied, under the direction of the 
legislature, to the objects set forth in the act, and this afterwards came to 
be known as the "three per cent fund." The other two-fifths was to be 
applied under the direction of Congress, and was used to aid in the con- 
struction of the Cumberland, or National Road, a great public highway 
beginning at Baltimore, Maryland, crossing the Appalachian mountains, and 
running westward across the states of Ohio and Indiana, and penetrating 
into Illinois almost to the Mississippi River. No government ever before 
had undertaken such an enterprise. Its cost mounted into the millions, 
and as a part of a still greater scheme of internal improvements it was the 
subject of many Uvely debates in Congress, but its value as a means of 
binding together the East and the West, and its influence in the develop- 
ment of the country, could not be overestimated. It became a great over- 
land artery of trade and commerce, and flooded the West with immigrants. 
Construction was begun in 1811, and completed to Vandalia, Illinois, its 
western terminus, in 1836. The road passes through Wheeling, West 
Virginia, Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Indiana. 



INDIANA CIVICS 235 

of five years from the day of sale. The state would have 
been foolish indeed to have rejected a proposition so advan- 
tageous. 

Limitations Imposed upon the Builders of a State ; Progress 
under the First Constitution. In the task of framing a con- 
stitution and forming a new state, the limitations imposed 
by the constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States 
must be observed. For, according to the definition in the 
Constitution itself, these constitute the " supreme law of the 
land." If between this supreme law and the constitution or 
laws of the new state conflict should occur, the latter would 
have to give way before the higher authority of the former. 
The more important of the powers ordinarily enjoyed by 
sovereign and independent states and denied to the states 
of the Federal Union are embodied in the following literal 
quotations from Article I of the Constitution: 

'' No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance or con- 
federation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; 
emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a 
tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex-post- 
fado law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or 
grant any title of nobility. No state shall, without the con- 
sent of the Congress, lay any impost or duties on imports 
or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for 
executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all 
duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, 
shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States ; and 
all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of 
the Congress. No state shall, without the consent of Con- 
gress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships-of-war, 
in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with 
another state or with a foreign power, or engage in war, 



236 INDIANA CIVICS 

unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will 
not admit of delay." 

In compensation for such abridgment of powers, " the 
United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a 
republican form of government, and shall protect each of 
them against invasion, and on application of the legislature, 
or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be con- 
vened) against domestic violence." (Sec. 4, Article IV, U. S. 
Constitution.) 

The injunctions that there should be " neither slavery nor 
involuntary servitude . . . otherwise than in the punishment 
of crime whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted," 
and that '' Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary 
to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall forever be encouraged," 
were embodied in the compacts in the Ordinance of 1787, to 
which the Enabling Act declared the new constitution and 
government should not be repugnant. 

Growth and Modem Conditions Demanding a New 
Organic Law; Defects of the First Constitution. Such were 
the limitations and guarantees under w^hich the constitution 
of 1816 was framed, and the new state government formed, 
and put into operation. The work was not perfect, but it 
met the approval of Congress, and served the people well in 
its day. Under it the state grew from a straggling population 
of perhaps 70,000 ' in 1816 to 988,416 in 1850, the year in 
which the people determined to change it. Commerce and 
the industries and public wealth had also grown marvelously, 
and vast improvements of all kinds had taken place. The 
railroads and telegraph had come, cities and towns had 
sprung up where previously there were only farms, and the 

1 Estimate by Dillon. 



INDIANA CIVICS 237 

state was fast changing its character from a frontier and 
purely agricultural community to one embodying all the 
complex conditions of modern civilization, and industrial 
and commercial activities and progress. The needs of the 
state government had correspondingly changed. Then time 
had served to develop the inherent faults of the first consti- 
tution, and there was an urgent demand for their correction. 

Among the worst defects of the old constitution were the 
multiplicity of duties imposed upon the legislature, or per- 
mitted to that body under its provisions, that should have 
been intrusted to the people, or performed by the administra- 
tive or judicial departments of the government. The legis- 
lature appointed the principal state officers, including the 
secretary, auditor and treasurer. It appointed the presi- 
dents of the circuit courts, and invented ways of reaching 
out for additional patronage. It sometimes found it con- 
venient to abolish an office simply as a means of ousting the 
incumbent, in order to give his place to some one else under 
a different official designation. It granted divorces, issued 
charters of incorporation, and incumbered the statutes with 
local and special legislation. 

Present State Government under Constitution of 1851. 
In outlining the machinery of our present state government 
we shall of course need to consider only the constitution of 
1851, as amended. The amendments, however, do not affect 
in any way the form of government prescribed in the original 
draft. They relate to suffrage and elections, negro rights 
and citizenship, fees and salaries, the right of the legislature 
to establish courts other than ^' inferior " courts, and forbid 
payment of the compromised Wabash and Erie canal debt 
of 1846-47. 

The offices under the state and local governments are of 



238 INDIANA CIVICS 

two kinds, constitutional and statutory, the former prescribed 
specifically by the constitution, and the latter created by 
legislative enactments, under authority of the constitution. 

The Three Departments of Government. The powers of 
government under the constitution are divided into three 
separate departments, — the legislative, the executive, 
including the administrative, and the judicial. In order 
that these departments shall be independent of each other, 
and serve as checks one upon the other, no officer in one 
department is permitted to exercise any of the functions of 
an officer in either of the other departments. 

The Legislative Department. The legislative department 
is vested in a general assembly, consisting of a senate and 
a house of representatives. The general assembly is per- 
mitted under the constitution to regulate the number of its 
members, provided the senators do not exceed fifty, and the 
representatives one hundred. The present membership of 
the two houses represents those maximums. The term of 
office of a senator is four years, and of a representative 
two. A man to be eligible to election as a senacor must 
be at least twenty-five years of age, and a representative 
twenty-one. 

The regular sessions of the general assembly convene bien- 
nially at the capital on the Thursday following the first 
Monday in January, of the odd-numbered years. The ses- 
sions are limited to sixty-one days, but the governor may 
call a special session at any time that, in his opinion, the pub- 
lic welfare requires it. A special session may not continue 
more than forty days. 

The lieutenant governor, by virtue of his office as such, 
is president of the senate, and presides over its sessions. 
He has no vote except when the members are equally divided. 



INDIANA CIVICS 239 

The senate also elects a president pro tempore to preside in 
the absence of the lieutenant governor. 

The house elects its presiding officer from its own mem- 
bership. His official designation is '' Speaker of the House 
of Representatives." He has the same privileges of voting 
and of debate enjoyed by any other member. Each house 
makes its own rules, appoints its own committees, and is the 
sole judge of the qualifications of its members. It may 
punish its members for disorderly conduct, compel the attend- 
ance of absentees, and with the concurrence of two thirds 
expel a member. Two thirds of the membership of either 
house constitutes a quorum, and it requires the votes of a 
majority of all the members to pass a bill or joint resolution. 
All bills for raising revenues must originate in the house, 
but other bills may originate in either branch. 

For the purpose of apportioning its members among the 
counties the general assembly is required to cause an enu- 
meration to be made every sixth year of all the male inhab- 
itants in the state over twenty-one years of age. 

Senators and representatives, in all cases except treason, 
felony, and breach of the peace, are privileged from arrest 
during the sessions, and in going to and returning from the 
same. Nor are they subject to any civil process during the 
sessions, or during the fifteen days next before the commence- 
ment of a session. For any speech or debate in either house 
a member may not be questioned in any other place. 

All laws, as nearly as possible, are required to be general, 
and of uniform operation throughout the state. Seventeen 
subjects are specifically enumerated in the constitution upon 
which the legislature is forbidden to pass local or special 
laws. 

To become a law a bill must receive the votes of a majority 



240 INDIANA CIVICS 

of the members of each house, taken separately, and by 
ayes and nays. But before its final passage the bill must 
have been read by sections on three separate days. The 
only other method is to pass it under a suspension of the 
rules agreed to by a two thirds vote. After thus receiving 
a majority of the votes in each house, the bill is signed by 
the president of the senate and the speaker of the house, 
and transmitted to the governor. If he signs it, and it does 
not contain an emergency clause, it becomes a law as soon 
as published and circulated in the counties. If it contains 
an emergency clause, it becomes a law at once. If the gover- 
nor disapproves, and is not willing to sign a bill after it has 
passed the two houses, it is his duty to send it back to the 
house in which it originated with his reasons or objections. 
This is called a veto. If the two houses choose to recon- 
sider it, and again pass it by a majority vote of the members, 
it becomes a law, notwithstanding the governor's veto. If 
the two houses fail to take this action, the bill is defeated, 
and cannot again be considered during the session. If the 
governor fails either to sign or return a bill for three days 
after it is presented to him, Sundays excepted, it becomes a 
law without his signature. 

The Executive Department. The executive power of the 
state is vested in a governor, who is elected for a term of 
four years, and is not eligible to hold the office more than 
four years in any period of eight. He must be at least thirty 
years of age at the time of election. 

The governor is commander-in-chief of the military and 
naval forces of the state, and may call out such forces to 
execute the laws, or to suppress insurrection, or to repel inva- 
sion. It is his duty, from time to time, to give to the general 
assembly information touching the condition of the state, 



INDIANA CIVICS 241 

and recommend such measures as he deems expedient. He 
may require information in writing from the officers of the 
administrative departments upon any subject relating co the 
duties of their respective offices. It is his duty to see that 
the laws are faithfully executed. He has power to grant 
reprieves, commutations, and pardons, after conviction, for 
all offenses except treason and in cases of impeachment. He 
has the power to remit fines and forfeitures, but in all cases 
must make due report to the general assembly. 

A lieutenant governor, with a tenure of four years and 
no restriction as to reelection, but with an age qualification 
of thirty years, is elected at the same time the governor is 
chosen. His duty is to preside over the sessions of the 
senate, and in case of the death, resignation, removal, or dis- 
ability of the governor, to assume the duties of that office. 

The constitution by express provision left it to the general 
assembly to designate by law what officer should succeed to 
the governorship in case of the death, resignation, removal, 
or disability of both the governor and lieutenant governor. 
Accordingl}^ a law was enacted March 11, 1867, naming the 
president pro tern, of the senate as next in line of succession 
after the lieutenant governor. And if there should be no 
president pro tern, of the senate, it becoines the duty of the 
secretary of state to convene the senate in order that such 
an officer may be elected. 

The governor or any state official may be removed from 
office, for cause, by impeachment of the house of repre- 
sentatives, to be tried by the senate. Such removal may 
also be accomplished by a joint resolution of the two houses, 
two thirds of all the members concurring. 

Administrative — State. The administrative power, desig- 
nated in the constitution as being a part of the executive, 



242 INDIANA CIVICS 

is vested in a secretary, auditor, and treasurer of state, each 
elected for a term of two years, and rendered ineligible for 
more than four years in any period of six. 

In addition to these a number of statutory offices have 
been created as follows: attorney general, elected for a term 
of two years; superintendent of public instruction, two years; 
chief of the bureau of statistics, two years; state geologist, 
four years. 

Administrative — County. The administrative officers of 
each of the several counties (constitutional) comprise the 
auditor, recorder, treasurer, sheriff, coroner, surveyor, 
and clerk of the circuit court. The auditor, recorder, and 
clerk are elected each for a term of four years, and made 
ineligible to hold office more than eight years in any period 
of twelve. The treasurer, sheriff, coroner, and surveyor are 
each elected for two years, and the treasurer and sheriff are 
limited in eligibility to two consecutive terms. 

In addition, a number of statutory offices have been 
created. These are a board of county commissioners, con- 
sisting of three members, with a three-year tenure of office; 
a county council, consisting of seven members, with a tenure 
of four years; a county superintendent of schools, with a 
tenure of four years; a county assessor, with a tenure of 
four years ; a county truant officer with a tenure of four years. 

The officers are elective by popular vote, with the exception 
of the county superintendent, who is elected by the township 
trustees, and the county truant officer, who is appointed by 
the county board of education.^ 

Township Officers. The township offices are all statutory. 
They consist of one trustee for each township, with a four- 

1 The county Board of Education is composed of the county super- 
intendent of schools, the township trustees, and the chairman of the board 
of school trustees of each city and town in the county. 



INDIANA CIVICS 243 

year tenure of office; one assessor, with a four-year tenure; 
an advisory board consisting of three members, with a four- 
year tenure; a number of justices of the peace, the number 
to be regulated by the board of county commissioners, under 
certain restrictions outUned in the law. Term, four years. 
A number of constables equal to the number of justices, with 
four-year terms; not less than two nor more than four road 
supervisors, elected for two years. 

Judicial Department. The judicial power of the state is 
vested in a supreme court, an appellate court, the circuit 
courts, a number of superior courts, one criminal court, one 
special probate court, one juvenile court, the justices' courts, 
and the municipal courts. Only the supreme and circuit 
courts came into being by direct constitutional provision. 
The others are statutory, but authorized by the constitution. 

The supreme, or highest court in the state, consists of five 
judges, each having a six-year tenure of office. The court 
has appellate jurisdiction, and a very limited and restricted 
original jurisdiction, regulated by statute. Its judgments are 
final, except in such cases as are appealable to the United 
States Supreme Court. 

The appellate court consists of six judges, their tenure of 
office being four years. This court is divided into two divi- 
sions of three judges each, elected from the two appellate 
court districts of the state, and causes arising in one district 
are decided by the judges of the other district. The appel- 
late court has appellate jurisdiction of all appealable causes 
not expressly appealable to the supreme court, and its judg- 
ments are final, except that causes in which the amount in 
controversy exceeds six thousand dollars are appealable there- 
from to the supreme court. Then decisions of the appellate 
court may be transferred to the supreme court for review 



244 INDIANA CIVICS 

where the losing party can satisfy the supreme court by peti- 
tion that the opinion of the appellate court contravenes a 
ruling precedent of the former court, or that a new question 
of law was presented, and erroneously decided. Provision 
is also made whereby two judges of a division may transfer 
to the supreme court for decision a cause involving a ruling 
precedent of the supreme court which such appellate judges 
deem erroneous. The object of these provisions is to keep 
the rulings of the appellate court in general conformity with 
the rulings precedent of the supreme court. 

The circuit courts consist of one judge each, elected for a 
term of six years. They possess criminal, civil, equity, and 
probate jurisdiction. The circuit courts in the state, at the 
present time, number sixty-one, one or more counties con- 
stituting a circuit. 

Superior courts have been established in a few of the more 
populous counties. Their jurisdiction is concurrent with, 
and in all respects similar to, that of the circuit courts, except 
as to probate business, which is left exclusively with the 
circuit courts in all counties save Marion. In Marion County 
there exists the one special probate court in the state, to 
which is assigned all probate business arising in that county. 

Under the law authorizing criminal courts, three were 
established, being one each in Marion, Allen, and Vigo coun- 
ties. Those in Allen and Vigo were later abolished, leaving 
only the one in Marion. It consists of one judge, having a 
term of four years. The court has original and exclusive 
jurisdiction, within the county, of all crimes and misdemean- 
ors, except where jurisdiction is by law conferred on justices 
of the peace, and such appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases 
as would belong to the circuit court if the criminal court had 
not been established. 



INDIANA CIVICS 245 

The one juvenile court is also in Marion County, such 
courts being authorized only in counties containing cities of 
100,000 population or over. It consists of one judge with a 
term of four years. It has jurisdiction in all causes relating 
to children, including juvenile delinquents and truants, 
and where the custody or legal punishment of children is in 
question. 

A justice of the peace has power to try and determine suits 
founded on contracts or torts wherein the debt or damage 
involved does not exceed $200. His jurisdiction is limited 
to the township, except that in townships where there are 
no justices' courts the justice residing nearest may exercise 
jurisdiction. 

A municipal or city court is provided for in every city of 
the first, second, third, and fourth classes. The court con- 
sists of one judge, elected for four years. In cities of the 
fifth class the powers of a city judge are exercised by the 
mayor. The city court has: jurisdiction within the county 
in which the city is located, over all violations of the ordi- 
nances of the city; original and concurrent jurisdiction with 
the circuit or criminal court in all cases of petit larceny, and 
all other violations of the laws of the state where the penalty 
provided therefor cannot exceed $500; all the powers and 
jurisdiction conferred upon justices of the peace. 

The clerk of the supreme and appellate courts, and the 
reporter of the supreme and appellate courts, are elective for 
four-year terms. And in every county having a population 
of 50,000 or over a probation officer is elected, with a tenure 
of four years. The salaries of these and all other public 
officers are fixed by statute. 

State Boards and Commissions. The state supports a 
large number of boards and commissions, the functions of 

MooRK, Ind. — 16 



246 INDIANA CIVICS 

which are usually indicated by their names. Almost every 
legislature augments the number by creating one or more 
new ones, but seldom reduces it by abolishing any of the old 
ones. Following is a list : State Railroad Commission; Depart- 
ment of Inspection and Supervision of Public Offices; State 
Board of Labor Commissioners; Department of Mine Inspec- 
tion; Department of Oil Inspection; Fisheries and Game 
Commission; Department of Gas Inspection; Department of 
Factory Inspection; Department of Entomology; Board 
of State Charities ; State Board of Pardons ; State Board of 
Truancy; State Board of Education, which is also the State 
Board of School Book Commissioners and the State Library 
Board ; Public Library Commission ; State Board of Forestry ; 
State Board of Pharmacy; State Board of Health; State 
Laboratory of Hygiene; Bureau of Public Printing, Binding, 
and Stationery; Board of Control of State Soldiers' and 
Sailors' Monument ; State Board of Tax Commissioners ; State 
Board of Medical Registration and Examination ; State Board 
of Dental Examiners; Board of Registration and Examina- 
tion of Trained Nurses; State Anatomical Board; State Board 
of Embalmers ; State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners ; 
and a State Veterinarian. 

The members of most of these boards are appointive by 
the governor. The superintendent of public buildings and 
property, and the State House engineer are appointive by a 
board composed of the governor, secretary of state, and audi- 
tor of state. The deputies, assistants, and minor employees 
of the departments and boards are usually appointive by 
the respective chiefs or superintendents. 

State Educational, Benevolent, and Correctional Institu- 
tions. The educational institutions supported by the state 
are: Indiana University, Bloomington; Purdue University, 



INDIANA CIVICS 247 

Lafayette; State Normal School, Terre Haute; Indiana 
School for the Blind, Indianapolis; School for the Deaf, 
Indianapolis. 

The benevolent institutions are: Central Hospital for 
the Insane, Indianapolis; Eastern Hospital for the Insane, 
Richmond; Northern Hospital for the Insane, Logansport; 
Southern Hospital for the Insane, Evansville; Southeastern 
Hospital for the Insane, Madison; Village for Epileptics, 
Newcastle; School for Feeble Minded Youths, Fort Wayne; 
Tuberculosis Hospital, Rockville; State Soldiers' Home, 
Lafayette; Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home, Knights- 
town. And in addition to these there is a National Soldiers' 
Home at Marion. 

The state's correctional institutions are: State Prison, 
Michigan City; Indiana Reformatory, Jeffersonville ; Indiana 
Boys' School, Plainfield; Indiana Girls' School, Indianapolis; 
Indiana Women's Prison, Indianapolis. 

Indiana National Guard; Fort Benjamin Harrison. The 
Indiana National Guard consists of three regiments of infan- 
try of twelve companies each, three artillery battalions, a 
signal corps, and a hospital corps. ^ The state's militia system 
is very effective, and in case of emergency or need a splendid 
force of well-drilled men can promptly be placed in service. 
The principal militia officers are the adjutant, the quarter- 
master, and the commissary general, all appointive by the 
governor. 

The United States Government maintains an important 
military post. Fort Benjamin Harrison, in the state. It is 
located in Marion County, near Indianapolis. 

1 The hospital corps consists of two detachments, one stationed at 
Indianapohs and one at Frankfort. The three batteries are stationed 
at Indianapohs, Fort Wayne, and Rockville, respectively. 



248 INDIANA CIVICS 

Methods of Compensating. Public Officials; Passing of the 
Fee System. Among the more important administrative 
reform movements of recent years is the attempt, through 
legislative remedies, to get away from the fee system of 
compensating public officials. The system is known to have 
paved the way for many abuses, and to have bred dishonesty. 
In its palmier days men holding certain state offices expected 
to make, and some of them did make, very comfortable for- 
tunes out of one or two terms. Now all state officers receive 
stated salaries, or fixed per diems only, and are required to 
turn into the pubhc treasury any and all fees collected by 
them. In the counties it is more difficult to eradicate the 
system wholly, though good progress has been made. There 
are three county officers who receive the benefit of certain 
fees in addition to their salaries, namely, the treasurer, sheriff, 
and circuit court clerk. The coroner and surveyor receive 
fees only, except that, in counties having a population of a 
hundred thousand or more, coroners are placed on salary, 
and in counties of one hundred fifty thousand or over, sur- 
veyors become salaried officials. The salaries of county 
officers are graded as nearly as may be according to the 
population and wealth of the respective counties. 

Justices of the peace and constables receive fees only, 
while all other township officers receive per diems. Trustees, 
assessors, and justices in townships containing large cities 
receive salaries. 



CHAPTER XVI 
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

The Animating Spirit. Religion, morality, and knowledge 
being necessary to good government and the happiness of 
mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever 
be encouraged. — Article III, Ordinance of 1787. 

Animated by this spirit the people of Indiana early began 
the work of developing a system of elementary and higher 
education, which has since been carried forward as rapidly as 
conditions would permit. The first care of the early settlers, 
necessarily, was to provide for their defense against the 
Indians, and establish a means of livelihood by clearing 
away the forests and bringing their lands into a state of 
cultivation. 

At the close of the Revolutionary war there were no 
schools, and only three white settlements in what is now the 
state of Indiana. Neither the original French settlers nor 
their British successors had given any attention to the sub- 
ject of education, or opened a single school of any description. 
The idea of popular education came only with the hardy 
settlers from the states and colonies to the east and south 
after American independence had been established. The 
very first school opened on Indiana soil appears to have 
been that of M. Rivet, at Vincennes, in 1793. Rivet was a 
French missionary and a political refugee. 

In 1785, or two years before the adoption of the Ordinance 
of 1787, Congress made provision for the establishment and 

249 



250 EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

maintenance of schools in the Northwest Territory by setting 
aside for that purpose one square mile, or Section 16, in each 
congressional township. This grant was confirmed to Indi- 
ana in the Enabling Act of 1816, and in addition one town- 
ship was given for the establishment and use of a Seminary 
of Learning. 

Origin of Indiana Educational System. In the constitu- 
tion of 1816 a strong declaration was incorporated in the 
interests of popular education, and it was made the duty of 
the general assembly to provide by law for the improvement 
of all lands granted, or to be granted by Congress for the use 
of the schools, and to see that the revenues produced there- 
from were devoted to the purposes intended. None of the 
lands were allowed to be sold before the year 1820, and it was 
made the duty of the general assembly, as soon as circum- 
stances would permit, " to provide by law for a general 
system of education, ascending in a regular gradation from 
township schools to a state university," wherein tuition 
should be " gratis and equally open to all." 

A system of county seminaries was an important part of 
the plan of these early legislators, and it was provided that 
the money which should be " paid as an equivalent by per- 
sons exempt from military duty, except in times of war," 
should be applied to the support of county seminaries, and 
that all fines assessed for any breach of the penal laws 
should be similarly applied in the counties wherein they were 
assessed. During the first few years following the adoption 
of the constitution a number of these county seminaries were 
established, and some of them later developed into widely 
celebrated institutions of learning. 

The Pioneer Township Schools. In 1821 the legislature 
appointed a commission to formulate a bill for a general 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 251 

school law/ The commission reported to the legislature of 
1824, and its work was approved, and the bill enacted. It 
was doubtless the best legislation possible at that time, and 
was the beginning of our present common-school system. 
But in view of the present advanced state of development, 
even to the point of compulsory attendance, a hasty view of 
the pioneer township school may prove both interesting and 
instructive. 

Under the provisions of the law any three inhabitants 
of the township could call a public meeting, and if there 
should be an attendance of twenty or more freeholders or 
householders, they were empowered to elect three township 
trustees. These trustees would then divide the township into 
school districts, and appoint three sub-trustees in each district. 
Then the sub-trustees would call meetings in their respective 
districts, and proceed to take the sense of the householders 
and freeholders present, " by ayes and noes, in writing," on 
the question whether they would or would not support a 
public school " for any number of months not less than three 
in each year." If the vote proved favorable, a site would be 
selected, also by majority vote, and a time set to meet and 
begin building a schoolhouse. Each male inhabitant over 
twenty-one years old was required to put in one day's work 
each week until the house was completed, or pay thirty-seven 
and one half cents in cash for each day he failed to work. 
He was allowed the privilege, in lieu of such work or labor, of 
furnishing " any plank, nails, glass, or other materials " 
that might be needed in the construction of such building. 

The law required that the schoolhouse should be eight 

1 The members of the commission were John Badollet, Daniel Hart, 
William W. Martin, James Welsch, Daniel S. Caswell, Thomas C. Searle, 
and John Todd. In their instructions they were given special direction to 
guard against "any distinction between the rich and the poor." 



252 EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

feet between the floors, and at least one foot from the surface 
of the ground to the first floor, and '' comfortably furnished 
and appointed for the teacher and pupils." Contemporary 
history tells us that these comfortable appointments and 
furnishings consisted usually of walls built of green rough 
logs, with mud chinked in between, puncheon floors and seats, 
a big open fireplace, and a clapboard roof surmounting all. 

When the schoolhouse was completed the sub-trustees 
would call another meeting of the inhabitants " and take the 
sense of such meeting " whether they would '' suffer any por- 
tion of the tax for the support of such school to be raised in 
money, and if so, what proportion, and the term of time 
they would wish to employ a teacher." Finally the sub- 
trustees would employ a teacher "on the most advantageous 
terms, contracting to make payment at the end of the term 
contracted for, in such articles and otherwise in such way 
and manner as may comport with the decision and determi- 
nation of the inhabitants of such district." Before the 
teacher was eligible to close the coveted contract he must 
have received a certificate from the township trustees setting 
forth that they had '^ examined him touching his qualifica- 
tions, and particularly as respects his knowledge of the Eng- 
lish language, writing, and arithmetic," and that in their 
opinion he was '' an useful person to be employed in said 
school." ' 

Many of the early teachers were from Ireland and Scot- 
land, while others were supplied by New England, and other 
portions of the earlier settled East and South. There being 
no system of textbooks, the pupils brought to school with 
them almost any kind of books they happened to have in 
their homes. The New Testament was used extensively for 

^ Quotations are from the law of 1824. 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 253 

reading exercises. Reading, writing, and arithmetic were the 
principal and almost only subjects taught. There were no 
restrictions upon corporal punishment as a means of main- 
taining discipline, and liberal advantage was taken by the 
early preceptors of the fact that hickory switches and beech- 
tree limbs were abundant and convenient to hand. 

Crude as they were, and despite their poverty of methods 
and appliances, these early schools exerted a wonderful influ- 
ence upon the first generation native born to Indiana. They 
could not bestow a polished education, but they furnished a 
foundation to build upon, planted the seeds of ambition, and 
aw^akened inspirations to higher and better things, that have 
borne choice fruits through succeeding generations. 

County Seminaries and the Permanent School Fund. In 
the session of 1824, laws were also enacted in the interests of 
the county seminaries, and a special act was passed pro- 
viding schools for Clark's Grant. The county seminaries, 
however, were not to continue a part of our educational 
system. In 1852 the legislature ordered the sale of all semi- 
naries and seminary property, and directed that the pro- 
ceeds of the sales be added to the permanent school fund. 

The permanent school fund, as it now exists by constitu- 
tional provision, consists of the congressional township fund; 
the bank tax fund; the sinking fund; the surplus revenue 
fund; the saline fund; the swamp land fund; the seminary 
fund; the contingent fund. It may be increased, but can 
never be diminished. At the present time the fund amounts 
to $11,818,433.49, which is a common-school endowment 
exceeded in only a few of the states. 

The congressional township fund was raised from the 
sale of lands given by the Government — particularly Sec- 
tion 16 of each congressional township. The bank tax fund 



254 EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

was created by a tax on the dividends declared by the state 
bank, which had its existence from 1834 to 1859. The sink- 
ing fund was a fund created for the payment of the state's 
share of the stock of the state bank. One half million dollars 
more was borrowed than needed for the payment for stock, 
and loaned out at six per cent interest. The proceeds were 
to go first toward the extinguishment of the debt, and after 
that to the permanent school fund. The fund finally realized 
to the schools from this peculiar speculation amounted to 
over three million dollars. The surplus revenue fund 
is a part of the state's share of a large surplus which had 
accumulated in the national treasury and was distributed 
(1836) among the different states. This also was a peculiar 
transaction, and the advance may sometime have to be 
returned. The saline fund arose from the sale of salt springs 
and lands pertaining thereto, donated by the Government. 
The swamp land fund arose from the sale of swamp lands 
given by the Government. The seminar}^ fund was created 
by the sale of the county seminaries, and their property, 
following the act of the legislature of 1852. The con- 
tingent fund arises from fines, forfeitures, and escheats. 

Groundwork of Modern School System; Recent Legisla- 
tion. Some very important school legislation passed in 1852 
was declared unconstitutional, and was followed, though 
somewhat tardily, by the enactments of 1865. These en- 
actments furnished the plan and groundwork of Indiana's 
present excellent school system. (See Chapter XII.) 

The uniform textbook law, for the elementary grades, 
was passed i:i 1889. The purposes of this law were to estab- 
lish a uniform system of textbooks, and lessen the cost of 
books to school patrons by substituting state adoption for 
county or local adoptions. 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 255 

The compulsory education law, enacted in 1895, has proved 
itself of vast importance and benefit. It compels the attend- 
ance at school of all children between the ages of eight and 
fourteen years. A truant officer is appointed in each county 
to see that the law is complied with. Provision is made for 
the appointment of additional officers in the cities where it is 
thought necessary. 

In 1906, responding to an agitation on the part of the teach- 
ing profession. Governor J. Frank Hanly appointed a com- 
mission to investigate the subjects of teachers' qualifications 
and wages, and any other matters affecting the welfare of 
the schools, and report with recommendations to the gover- 
nor and the next general assembly. As a result of the 
investigations and report of this commission a number of 
laws of great importance to the educational interests of the 
state were enacted. Among them were the teachers' mini- 
mum wage and qualifications law, which raised the minimum 
standards both of qualifications and pay; the law providing 
for the establishment of departments of normal instruction 
for teachers in the non-state colleges, and the law establishing 
a uniform course of study for high schools. Provisions were 
also made for the lengthening of school terms, and there was 
much other legislation friendly and helpful to the schools. 

Consolidated Schools. Previously laws had been passed 
providing for the abandonment and consolidation of town- 
ship schools, the transportation of children from the aban- 
doned districts, and the establishment of township high 
schools. As a result of this legislation over twenty thousand 
pupils were being hauled to consolidated township schools 
in 1909-10, and the system has commended itself to nearly 
all friends of improved educational facilities in the rural 
communities. In the consolidated schools the pupils have 



256 EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

the advantages of better and more sanitary buildings, better 
equipment, better instruction, and longer terms. The ar- 
rangement makes industrial training possible where it is 
desired. It brings the country child within the privilege of 
the library, of laboratory work, and instruction in music, 
drawing, nature study, etc. And the cost is no greater, rela- 




TypE OF Township Consolidated School 

tively, than that required for the separate maintenance of 
the small schools. The system is coming into vogue in a 
number of other states, largely as a result of its remarkable 
success and splendid results in Indiana. 

Indiana's System among the Best; Record of Progress. 
According to the general verdict of competent authorities 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 257 

Indiana's elementary and high school systems are among 
the best to be found in any of the states. Both in city and 
country good modern buildings with up-to-date appliances 
prevail, while the teachers are well trained, well qualified 
and much better compensated than formerly. Very few 
states in the Union pay more, grade for grade. The prog- 
ress made from the inception of our present system, less 
than fifty years ago, is little short of marvelous. It is only 
three quarters of a century since the pioneers among the 
clearings in the forests were holding their " district meetings " 
and voting upon the question of whether or not they would 
" support a public school for any number of months not less 
than three in each year," and if so whether they would " suf- 
fer any portion of the tax for the support " of such school 
"to be raised in money." 

State Educational Institutions. The state educational 
institutions are also of a high order of merit. They com- 
prise the State University, Bloomington; Purdue University, 
Lafayette; State Normal School, Terre Haute; State School 
for the Deaf, Indianapolis; Indiana School for the Blind, 
Indianapolis. 

State University, Bloomington. In 1816 Congress gave 
the state a township of land for the endowment of a seminary 
of learning. The land was soon afterwards located in Monroe 
county, and in 1820 Bloomington was selected as the seat 
of the new institution, which was opened in 1825. In 1828 
the grade of the institution was raised from a seminary to 
that of a college. In 1838 the college was chartered as a 
university, and a little later its buildings were destroyed by 
fire. The state came promptly to its aid, and new and better 
buildings were erected. The university has accomplished 
good results, and a still greater and grander mission for its 



258 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 







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Library, Indiana University 



future is unfolding before it. It maintains an efficient and 
well-equipped medical department at Indianapolis. 

Purdue University, Lafayette. The legislature at its ses- 
sion in 1865 accepted the terms of a land gram offered by 
Congress three years earlier for the endowment of a college 
of agriculture and the mechanic arts. The Government 
accordingly issued its scrip for 390,000 acres, which the 
state sold for $212,238, appropriating the amount to the 
establishment of the institution now known as Purdue Uni- 
versity. It was named for John Purdue, who donated 
$150,000 for its use. Tippecanoe County, in which it is 
located, gave $50,000, and the citizens of the little village of 
Chauncy, adjoining Lafayette, donated one hundred acres 
of land for its site. The people of the state indulge a just 
pride in this splendid institution, which faces the future with 




Fowler Hall, Purdue University 




[259] 



State Normal School 



260 ED I 'CA TIONA L DE \ E LOP MEN T 

the most inspiring prospects for continued growth and broader 
usefulness. 

State Normal School, Terre Haute. The State Normal 
School came into being to meet a growing demand for trained 
teachers for the elementary and high schools, then so rapidly 
increasing in numbers, and advancing along all lines of prog- 
ress. The legislature passed the necessary law providing 
for the establishment of the school in 1865. Terre Haute 
secured the location by donating $50,000 in cash and $25,000 
in lands. The school was opened in 1870, and by its work 
and patronage has more than justified its existence and the 
enthusiasm of its promoters. Its greatest difficulty has been 
to secure funds to keep buildings ahead of its growth. 

Indiana State School for the Deaf, Indianapolis. This 
school was incorporated as a state. institution in 1844. Henry 
Ward Beecher and Bishop Matthew Simpson were members 
of its incorporating board. It was the second state insti- 
tution to be established by Indiana, the first being Indi- 
ana University. The claim is made that by her action in 
placing this school on an equal basis with the other state 
educational institutions, Indiana became the first state in 
the Union to provide free education to the deaf on exactly 
the same terms that school privileges are extended to the 
hearing. This school is not classed as a charitable or be- 
nevolent institution. The legislature of 1909 extended the 
provisions of the compulsory education law to include the 
deaf and blind eligible to attend the schools provided for 
their education. 

Indiana School for the Blind, Indianapolis. This school 
came into existence by an act of the legislature of 1847. 
As in the case of the school for the deaf, it is an educational 
and not a charitable institution. Tuition is free on the broad 




School for the Deaf 



A 


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[261] 



School for the Blind 



26-2 EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

principle that the state is bound to furnish school facilities 
to all classes of her citizens alike. And as stated above, 
the provisions of the compulsory education law now include 
the blind. 

Vincennes University, Vincennes. While Vincennes Uni- 
versity is not a state institution in the sense of being supported 
by the state, yet it was endowed by a grant of lands made 
by Congress to the territorial government, and its history 
involves a contention with the state of almost a century's 
duration. Hence it seems appropriate to include a brief 
sketch concerning it here. 

In 1804 Congress granted to the territorial government 
a township of land to endow a seminary of learning. The 
township was located in Gibson County in 1806, and con- 
tained 23,040 acres. In 1807 the university was chartered, 
and Vincennes chosen as its site. William Henry Harrison, 
then governor of the territory, was president of its first 
board of trustees. A brick building was erected from the 
proceeds of the sale of 4000 acres of the land graixted by 
Congress, and the school was started, but progress was slow, 
in fact impossible, for lack of funds. Suspension came in 
1823, and in 1824 the seminary was adopted as the County 
Seminary of Knox County, but the university was reinstated 
in 1840. 

In 1823 a step was taken that involved the university 
and the state in a controversy which is still unsettled, after a 
lapse of eighty-seven years. Reference is to the sale by the 
state, following the suspension of the university, of the 
remaining 19,040 acres of land granted by Congress. The 
proceeds were turned over to the State University at Bloom- 
ington. In 1844 the Board of Trustees of Vincennes Univer- 
sity instituted suits against the purchasers of the lands, in an 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 263 

effort to recover them, but before any of the suits were 
allowed to come to an issue the legislature voluntarily 
assumed responsibility by passing an act permitting the 
university to institute suit against the state, which it did, 
securing judgment upon final appeal to the United States 
Supreme Court for $66,580. Samuel Judy, the attorney for 
the university, retained from the amount of the judgment, 
which the state paid in bonds, $25,000 for his services. Pro- 
testing that this fee was excessive, the university now sued 
him for recovery of a part of it, but was defeated. Later, 
the university, complained that it was not fully compensated, 
and in 1895 the legislature made it another appropriation 
of $15,000. Next a claim for $120,000 was preferred on the 
grounds of insufficiency of former settlements. A bill allow- 
ing this claim passed both branches of the general assembly 
in 1899, and was vetoed by Governor Mount. In 1901, 
and again in 1903, similar bills were introduced but defeated 
in the legislature. In 1903 the legislature appointed a 
commission consisting of the governor, secretary, auditor, 
and treasurer of state to investigate the claim. The result 
was that the secretary, auditor, and treasurer signed a ma- 
jority report favoring the claim, and the governor (Durbin) a 
minority report opposed to it. 

In 1907 the claim was again renewed, this time for $120,548, 
and a bill directing that it be allowed, and bonds issued in 
favor of the trustees of the university for the amount, passed 
both houses of the general assembly. Governor Hanly 
vetoed it, setting forth his reasons in a message of great 
length. The general assembly promptly passed the measure 
over his veto by decisive majorities, and it became a law. 

The bonds, when issued, required the signatures of the 
governor and the secretary of state to make them valid, and 



264 EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

when they were presented to the governor he refused to 
sign, but locked them up in his safe and held them until the 
meeting of the special session called in September, 1908, 
when he sent an earnest message to the legislature asking 
that the law authorizing the bond issue be repealed. This 
the legislature declined to do, and the matter then rested 
until Thomas R. Marshall succeeded to the governorship 
in 1909, when he signed the bonds. Ex-Governor Hanly 
then caused injunctive proceedings to be brought enjoining 
the secretary of state from attaching his signature, and the 
issue thus presented was taken before the Superior Court of 
Marion County, and a decision rendered upholding the valid- 
ity of the legislative act and of the bond issue. An appeal 
to the supreme court was thereupon taken. 

The university is directed by men of character and ability, 
and its work has been uniformly of the highest grade. Its 
fame is the pride of all, and while differences of opinion 
may exist in reference to the merits of the later claims 
prosecuted against the state, there can be only sympathy 
for its many adversities, and hopes for its prosperity in 
the future. 



APPENDIX 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

THE RAPPITE COMMUNITY 

Ideas and Purposes of Two Great Leaders. The name 
of New Harmony, a picturesque little city of about fifteen 
hundred inhabitants, located on the Wabash River in Posey 
County, Indiana, will ever be associated with the history of 
two of the most notable communistic experiments ever 
tried on the Western Continent. The first was that of 
George Rapp, a German religious enthusiast, and dissenter 
from the established German church, who emigrated to 
America in order to escape persecution, and enjoy hberty 
of thought and expression. In the spring of 1815, accom- 
panied by about eight hundred followers, pricipally Wiirttem- 
'berg peasants, he founded the village of " Harmonic," and 
'' dedicated it to the uses of a Christian brotherhood.'' 
The settlement was conducted on the community plan, and 
prospered, in a material sense, until 1824, when the vast 
estate of almost 30,000 acres of land, including buildings, 
and town and plantation improvements, was sold to Robert 
Owen, a wealthy manufacturer and social reformer of New 
Lanark, Scotland. Owen also had a sociaHstic cure, but, 
of a slightly different kind, for all human discontent. Rapp's 
panacea consisted of celibacy. Christian devotion, and com- 
munism. Owen's Utopia was to be brought about through 
cooperation, universal education, brotherly love, and the 
elimination of all forms of competition. No religious 

265 



266 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

motives entered into his plans. In fact, by denouncing all 
of the then accepted forms of religion he caused himself to 
be accused of unbelief, and his socialistic teachings and 
experiments were ever afterwards associated in the popular 
mind with atheism, or infidelity. And the fact greatly 
hampered the real and practical reforms in the interests of 
the laboring classes which he endeavored to promote, espe- 
cially in England. 

The Rappites and Harmonie. George Rapp, father of 
the first experiment at New Harmony, was born in 1757, and 
before coming to America resided at Wiirttemberg, German}-. 
Although lacking the advantages of a liberal education, he 
was a careful and earnest student, especially of the Bible, 
and developed a very strong personality. He early came to 
regard the established German church as hopelessly de- 
generated from its former high standard, and refused to 
affiliate with it, or acknowledge its ecclesiastical authority. 
This brought upon him and his little band of adherents 
much persecution and contumely. After enduring it for a 
time, he gathered about him a considerable company of his 
most resolute followers, and prepared to emigrate with them 
to America.^ 

It is evident that Rapp's ideas on socialism and commu- 
nism were carefully thought out, and that he was shrewd 
enough to foresee that no scheme of absolute equality in 
service and privilege could be successfully enforced, even 
among the most simple-minded and docile, without first 
eliminating the institution of the separate family. Hence 

1 Another notable communistic experiment which followed that of 
Rapp was *■ Zoar," in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. It was also made up of 
German immigrants, and was led by Joseph Bimler. Before leaving the 
Fatherland Bimler and his followers had refused to pay taxes, denouncing 
the country, because of religious conditions, as "that great Babylon." 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 267 

his injunction of celibacy. As a foundation for his doctrine 
on this subject, he professed behef that in the beginning 
both God and man possessed a dual nature, and that had 
Adam remained in his original state, possessing within his 
own person both the sexual elements, the race would have 
been propagated without the aid of the female. This 
curious doctrine was based on the scriptural passage found 
in the first chapter of Genesis: " So God created man in his 
own image, in the image of God created he him; male and 
female created he them." But Adam refused to be content 
until God separated the female part from his body, and 
created woman. This, according to Rapp, was the beginning 
of trouble in the world, and literally constituted the fall of 
man. Hence the doctrine of celibacy, which he would 
enjoin until the Adamic condition should be restored. In 
justification of the rule of a community of goods, and aboli- 
tion of all forms of private ownership, he pointed to Acts 
rv. 32: "And the multitude of them that believed were of 
one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that 
aught of the things which he possessed was his own ; but they 
had all things in common." 

Accompanied by his adopted son, Frederick, Rapp set 
out for the United States in 1803. He purchased a tract of 
5000 acres of unimproved land near Zelienople, Pennsyl- 
vania, and settled about six hundred of his people on it. The 
immigrants brought their families with them, and were per- 
mitted to cherish the old ties for a time, but the marriage 
state was formally renounced in 1807, and those previously 
married were separated and forbidden longer to live together. 
The colony prospered and grew, but in 1813 it was deter- 
mined to seek a more desirable location, principally because 
of climatic conditions and lack of navigation facilities. 



268 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

Frederick Rapp was sent to examine into the advantages of 
other regions, and after extensive Explorations selected the 
present site of New Harmony, Indiana/ The country was 
wild, and almost wholly uninhabited, but the soil was fertile, 
and the situation on the beautiful Wabash, being about 
fifty-five miles from the mouth of that stream, as picturesque 
and inviting as any earthly prospect could be. Here almost 
thirty thousand acres of choice land was purchased, to which 
the Rappites, about eight hundred strong, made removal 
in 1815, and estabhshed the village of '' Harmonic," as 
before stated. They sold their possessions in Pennsylvania 
for $100,000, which was regarded as a great sacrifice. 

The industry of the newcomers was phenomenal, and 
they performed their tasks according to a discipline almost 
as perfect as that which controls an army.- They cleared 
the lands, planted and reaped their harvests, cultivated 

^ Frederick Rapp was an efficient lieutenant antl trusted adviser of 
George Rapp. He looked after the outside business affairs of the colony, 
as a rule, and it was to his artistic taste that Harmony owed its reputa- 
tion for being one of the most attractive villages in the country. And 
while in Indiana he won recognition politically. He was one of the dele- 
gates to the Constitutional Convention of 1816, and afterwards became a 
member of the legislature. He also served on the committee that located 
the State Capital at Indianapolis. He met a violent death after the return 
of the Rappites to Pennsylvania, and malicious gossip alleged that he was 
murdered at the instigation of his foster father, George Rapp, because he 
refused to put away his wife and observe the community rule of celibacy. 
The story seems to have been both wanton and absurd. It is practically 
certain that young Rapp was killed by a falling tree on the Economy 
estate. 

2 " Women as well as men labored in the fields, as many as fifty some- 
times being employed in a body, harv^esting wheat, or breaking flax in the 
streets. Often they marched to the fields to the music of a band, which 
was one of the regular institutions of the community. It is said that this 
band often played upon the hillsides while the peasants labored in the 
valley. A hundred acres of wheat were harvested by the sickle in a day 
— a remarkable result for that time." — George B. Lockwood, in The 
New Harmony Movement. 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 269 

orchards and vineyards, built homes and public buildings 
and factories and mills, and erected a church of such mag- 
nificence, in view of the time and the environment, that 
it was an object of wonderment to visitors.^ All labored for 
the general good of the community, and lived on terms of 
exact equality." All goods and property were owned in 
common. 

Rapp's Methods of Control; St. Gabriel's Rock. Rapp 
was the supreme head and sole spiritual adviser of the 
community; and in order to fortify and render more 
absolute his authority, he did not scruple to make frequent 
appeals to the religious credulity and superstitious fears 
of his simple-minded followers. He professed on many 
occasions to be guided by divine communications received 
in visions, and is said to have employed various expedients 
to inculcate in the minds of his people the belief that he 
was omnipresent and possessed miraculous powers. Among 
these, so tradition says, was a secret underground passage- 
way from the cellar of his home to the granary or fort, and 
another to the pulpit of the church, enabling him to appear 
suddenly and mysteriously before his people at unexpected 
times. He kept on exhibition a large limestone slab, bear- 
ing the imprint of two bare feet, explaining to his people 
that the imprints were from the feet of the angel Gabriel, 

* The church was in the shape of a Greek cross, and a London traveler, 
describing it at the time, exclaimed: "I can scarcely imagine myself to be 
in the wilds of Indiana, on the borders of the Wabash, while passing through 
its long and resounding aisles, and surveying its stately colonnades." 

^ The idea of perfect equality among the Rappites did not stop with the 
end of life, but was carried to the grave. There was no ostentation of 
mourning or of sorrow at the funeral of a deceased member, and the place 
of his burial was sodded over, with not so much as a mound of earth to 
mark his resting place. But a plan, or diagram, indicating the site of each 
grave, was kept. 



270 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

who had alighted upon the earth to convey to the Rappites, 
through him, a message from heaven, and a warning of the 
near approach of the end of the world. The slab, though 
broken in halves, is still in existence, and is an object of 
great curiosity to visitors. It is known as " St. Gabriel's 
Rock." ' 

Effects of the System upon the People ; Removal to Penn- 
sylvania. " Father " Rapp was cheerful, kindly, and sym- 
pathetic, and enjoyed the confidence and affection of his 
followers to a marked degree. They regarded him as a 
holy man and prophet. He taught self-sacrifice, humility, 
neighborly love, religious devotion, industry, purity, and 
the various personal virtues. The rule of celibacy was 
rigidly enforced. Separate quarters were maintained for the 
men and the women, and every individual had his or her 
stated task to perform. All were neatly though plainly clad, 
had plenty of good food, served at common tables, were given 
time for rest and recreation, and seemed as happy and con- 
tented as it is possible for mortals to be. However, the 
practical sociologist will likely tell you that it is a very rare 

^ The stone, before being broken, was eight feet by five, surface measure- 
ment, and eight inches in thickness. For a long time it figured in current 
newspaper discussion, and finally became an object of inquiry upon the 
part of scientists. The prints were described as having the appearance of 
being the impress of bare feet made in mud, and the mud so impressed 
having subsecjuently hardened into stone. There was an irregular rounded 
mark, or scroll, in front of the imprints, which was surmised to have been 
made with a stick in the hands of the prehistoric owner of the feet. With 
this kind of history, if authenticated, the stone would have been an 
object of unusual interest to antiquarians, but David Dale Owen, a scien- 
tist of reputation and an export geologist, made a careful investigation, 
and his report proved fatal to the stone's principal charm of antiquity. It 
was found to be of limestone formation, belonging to the Paleozoic age — 
an age beyond any reasonable possibility of human habitation upon the 
earth. The footprints and scroll had been carved artificially, doubtless 
by llie Indians in comparatively recent times, other such examples having 
been found. Rapp brought the stone from a quarry near St. Louis. 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 271 

type of humanity that can be satisfied and kept in content- 
ment with all individuality sunk to a common level, deprived 
of the associations of the opposite sex, and a ban placed 
upon every ambition to personal achievement*. 

Robert Dale Owen, writing of the effects of community 
life on these simple-minded German peasants, said: ''The 
toil and suffering had left their mark, however, on the grave, 
stolid, often sad German faces. They looked well fed, 
well clothed (so my father told me), and seemed free from 
anxiety. The animal had been sufficiently cared for, and 
that is a great deal in a world where millions can hardly 
keep the wolf from the door, drudge as they will. ... A 
shelter from life- wearing cares is something; but a temple 
typifies higher things — more than what we shall eat, and 
what we shall drink, and wherewithal we shall be clothed. 
Rapp's disciples had bought this dearly, at the expense of 
heart and soul. They purchased them by unquestioned 
submission to an autocrat who had been commissioned, per- 
haps as he really believed, certainly as he alleged, by God 
himself. He bade them do this and that, and they did it, 
commanded them to forego wedded life and all its incidents, 
and to this also they assented." 

But under this system and direction these simple-minded 
toilers made the land to yield its fruits in rich abundance, 
and they enjoyed a degree of prosperity far beyond the best 
achievements of the occupants of the surrounding lands. 
The value of their property in 1820 was estimated at $1,000,- 
000, and in 1824 the per capita or average wealth had grown 
to $2000, which was probably ten times the average wealth 
throughout the United States. The per capita wealth in 
the rest of Indiana at that time was about $150. '' Socially, 
however," truthfully writes Robert Dale Owen, '' it was 



272 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

doubtless a failure, as an ecclesiastical aristocracy, especially 
when it contravenes an important law of nature, must 
always be. Rapp was an absolute ruler, assuming to be 
such by virtue of a divine call, and it was said, probably 
with truth, that he desired to sell Harmony because life 
there was getting to be easy and quiet, with leisure for 
thought, and because he found it difficult to keep his people 
in order, excepting during the bustle and hard work which 
attended a new settlement." 

In the midst of their prosperity, as if moved by a sudden 
impulse, the Rappites decided to go back to Pennsylvania. 
About this time Richard Flower, founder of the celebrated 
socialistic settlement in Edwards County, Illinois, accom- 
panied by his son Edward, was preparing to return to Eng- 
land, and before departing was given a commission by 
Father Rapp to sell Harmony.^ His efforts were successful, 
for in 1824 a sale was negotiated to Robert Owen. Although 
Harmony was reputed to be worth $1,000,000, it changed 
hands upon a consideration of $150,000, which, however, 
was a great advance over the price paid ten years before. 

From Harmony the Rappites journeyed back to Pennsyl- 
vania and bought a large tract of land eighteen miles 
below Pittsburg, and erected on it the village of Economy. 
There is a conflict among the authorities as to why the 
Rappites left Indiana. One writer says they left on account 
of fever, ague, unpleasant neighbors, and remoteness from 
market. The last is probably the only one of the reasons 
given that really had weight, as, according to the assertions 

1 The two Flowers had greatly distinguished themselves by their active 
opposition to the extension of slavery into the free territory of Illinois. 
Edward Flower did not return to this country, but remained in England, 
making an honorable career for himself there. It was his daughter, Sarah 
Flower, who wrote the immortal hymn, " Nearer, my God, to Thee." 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 273 

of the Rappites themselves, the fever and ague had about 
disappeared in 1824, and Httle intercourse was had with the 
settlers outside the Harmony community, so no serious 
annoyance could have been experienced from them. Good 
markets were remote from the Harmony vicinity at that time, 
however, and practically all the supplies that were needed 
had to be brought from Pittsburg. These two facts, un- 
questionably, supplied the real motive for so important a 
step. By the removal to Pennsylvania they not only got 
near their base of supplies, but close by an inexhaustible 
market. Another writer states that the Harmony property 
had become burdened with debt, and had to be sold. There 
is no evidence, however, that the Rappites had suffered any 
financial embarrassment. There were stories to the effect 
that when making the start to Economy, bullion was con- 
veyed from Father Rapp's cellar to the boats hi wagonloads. 
Certain it is that soon after their arrival in Pennsylvania, 
they not only had money to pay for their new estate, but 
were able to raise over 1100,000 in cash to pay to a party 
of seceders. 

End of the Experiment. At the zenith of their prosperity, 
after the removal to Economy, the Rappites' estate is said 
to have been worth ten to twenty million dollars. But 
troubles and losses later ensued, the great leader of the 
movement became enfeebled under the weight of years, and 
finally died in 1847, at the age of ninety. Afterwards the 
Economy estate, deeply involved in debt, and burdened with 
destructive litigation, was managed by trustees. At the last 
it was administered upon as a corporation for the benefit 
of its fast dwindling membership, and the great experiment 
was at an end. 



274 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

THE OWEN EXPERIMENT 

Robert Owen and New Lanark; His Method of Winning 
a Wife. As the success of the Rappite community depended 
upon the strength, enthusiasm, and personality of George 
Rapp, waned with his enfeeblement, and died when he died, 
so the new movement at Harmony depended upon the spirit 
and physical presence of Robert Owen, its originator. In 
order to understand the real significance of this new at- 
tempt at social reformation, something must be known of the 
author and of his views and previous activities. 

Robert Owen was born in North Wales in 1771, of humble 
parentage, and his educational opportunities were limited. 
At an early age he was apprenticed to a draper. Advancing 
from the drapers' trade he learned the cotton manufacturing 
business, and at the age of nineteen found himself the manager 
of a large cotton mill at Manchester, England, with five 
hundred employees under his charge. Being impressed with 
the vicious circumstances under which these and other factory 
employees earned their daily bread, he set about devising 
ways and means for their amelioration and relief. Deeply 
gratified with the results of such improved conditions as he 
was able to bring about, both in the added comfort, health, 
and morals of the employees, and the pronounced reflex bene- 
fit to the factory in more cheerful and proficient service, he 
advanced still farther, step by step, in various philanthropic 
endeavors in his working people's behalf. Under his humane 
and capable management the establishment was soon made 
one of the best of its kind in England. In this factory Owen 
received the first bags of American sea-island cotton ever 
imported into England. 

But Owen's principal reputation as a successful manu- 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 275 

facturer, social reformer, and philanthropist was made at 
New Lanark, Scotland, whither he was led by a love romance. 
While visiting Glasgow on a business errand, he met Miss 
Dale, daughter of David Dale, proprietor of the great cotton 
mills at New Lanark. Soon after his return to Manchester 
he wrote her a letter proposing marriage. She dutifully 
referred him to her father, making her consent conditional 
upon his parental approval. Thinking such approval quite 
doubtful under all the circumstances, Owen set about in- 
ducing his partners in the Manchester mill to join him in 
buying the New Lanark mill. The plan was successful, 
Owen was made manager of the newly acquired in- 
dustry, and the wedding followed in due course, as he had 
planned. 

About two thousand people were employed in the New 
Lanark mill, a fourth of whom were children. In his dealings 
with these, Owen employed the same kindliness, and ex- 
hibited the same humane and philanthropic interest that 
had marked his management and attitude at Manchester, 
except that he carried his plans much farther. He devised 
and put into operation various schemes for the moral and 
physical improvement of the surroundings, and the eradica- 
tion of vice from among the employees. He provided for 
their education, and founded the first infant school ever 
opened on English soil. He opened a store where all articles 
were sold at cost, and during the American Embargo of 
1806, when the mill could no longer receive a supply of raw 
cotton and was compelled to shut down, he continued to 
pay his employees their wages. The reforms he set in motion, 
and the help extended by way of education and the eradica- 
tion of evils, affected not only his employees, but their families 
and the whole population of New Lanark. The fame of 



276 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

Owen's philanthropy and of the model manufacturing com- 
munity he had promoted, became not only national but 
international, and hundreds of visitors, including philan- 
thropists, sociologists, educators, and even royalty, came 
from nearly every country of Europe to make observations. 

But Owen's policies were not without their drawbacks in 
other ways. Whilie he had brought good cheer and content- 
ment to the employees of the mill, completely changed the 
moral atmosphere, imparted a new impetus to the natural 
desire of the people for better things, and increased the 
profits of the mill at the same time, his partners in the enter- 
prise looked upon his benevolences as mere wastefulness at 
their expense, and figured that their profits would have been 
so much greater if Owen had followed the usual business 
methods elsewhere in vogue. So twice within a compara- 
tively short time Owen was compelled to interest new groups 
of men to buy out the old ones, the price advancing each 
time. But attacks were now made on other grounds, and 
Owen was finally forced out of the New Lanark mills. He 
was taken to task for his moral and religious beliefs, and 
denounced as a heretic and an infidel. Such is the brand of 
public appreciation so often encountered by benefactors of 
the race. It has been so from the beginning of time. 

The Owen Philosophy; Reforms Advocated. In the place 
of the existing forms of religion which he had denounced 
and swept aside, Owen thought out and adopted a creed of 
his own. The chief points in his philosophy were: Man's 
character is made not by him but for him; it is formed by 
circumstances over which he has no control; he is therefore not 
a proper subject for either praise or blame. These principles 
led to the practical conclusion that the great secret in the 
right formation of man's character is to place him under the 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 277 

proper influences, physical, moral and social, from his earUest 
years. In other words, environment determines all. 

Owen devoted many years to the advocacy of laws for the 
relief of the laboring classes in England. He was the first 
to urge legislation regulating the employment of children 
in factories and shops, and limiting the number of hours they 
should be required to work. His efforts were sincere, un- 
selfish and untiring. But for his reward he seems to have 
earned the opposition both of the laboring classes themselves 
and of their employers. At least the two elements joined to 
encompass his defeat in a race he made for a seat in Parlia- 
ment in 1819. The most damaging opposition encountered, 
however, was on account of his religious views. This hos- 
tility approached the effects of an excommunication, and 
largely neutralized his later efforts to bring about various 
practical reforms. 

The Purchase of Harmony ; Golden Dreams. The bargain 
for the Rappite possessions at Harmony was completed in 
1825, when Robert Owen came into possession of nearly 
30,000 acres of Indiana real estate, 3000 acres of which were 
under cultivation. The purchase included the village of 
Harmony, with its public buildings and great church, its 
homes, industries and various improvements. Henceforth 
the village was to be known as New Harmony, and here the 
new proprietor, unhampered by the conflicting interests of 
unsympathetic co-investors, was to put into operation plans 
for communistic colonization which he had long cherished, 
and promote the moral, physical and intellectual well-being 
of the people along lines of his own choosing. The full scope 
of his object was to reform society completely along social- 
istic and communistic lines. He would do away with self- 
ishness by having all things held by the people in common, 

Moore, Ixd.— 18 



278 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

and by abolishing private ownership of property. He would 
teach the truth and banish superstition; would substitute 
cooperation for competition, make education free and univer- 
sal, and insure equal opportunities and equal privileges to 
all. He would bring about a direct distribution of the neces- 
saries of life from the producer to the consumer, and abolish 
the useless and expensive middleman. 

The experiment was heralded by the press of the world, 
and on his way to New Harmony Owen stopped at Washing- 
ton and addressed both Houses of Congress, with the Presi- 
dent, judges of the Supreme Court, and other distinguished 
persons as auditors, explaining his plans for the redemption 
of the human race from the evils of the existing state of 
society, and exhibiting a model of the magnificent community 
house he proposed eventually to build. There was no trouble 
finding people willing to join in the experiment. It was 
formally launched April 27, 1825, and by Christmas the 
population of New Harmony had grown to fully a thousand 
people. About every known species of humanity was repre- 
sented. An eminent writer says of the colony thus hastily 
formed by volunteer accessions, without any effort at selec- 
tion or discrimination as between the fit and the unfit, " that 
the members were of the most motley description, many 
worthy people of the highest aims being mixed with vagrants, 
adventurers, and crotchety, wrong-headed enthusiasts." 

There were cranks and hobby riders who came hoping to 
find an opportunity of putting their own schemes into opera- 
tion rather than with an honest purpose to assist in a fair 
trial of Owen's theories. Others were led by curiosity alone, 
while many were attracted under the delusion that New 
Harmony meant a life free from responsibility or labor. 
Among the newcomers, however, were scores of enlightened 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 279 



and progressive people from all portions of the United States 
and many countries of northern Europe. 

The Boatload of Knowledge. That Robert Owen ap- 
proached the great undertaking at New Harmony with the 
highest ideals and the 
purest motives, nearly 
every one was willing 
to admit. He enlisted 
the interest and co- 
operation of William 
Maclure, the wealthy 
scientist of Philadel- 
phia, and through the 
combined influence of 
Owen and Maclure 
there was assembled 
at New Harmony '' the 
most distinguished 
coterie of scientists and 
educators in America."^ 
A hasty glance at the 
units forming this co- 
terie will prove of 
interest, and will help 

to explain why the '' New Harmony Movement " has 
attracted so much more attention than other socialistic 
and communistic experiments, many of which have seemed 
to be far more successful. 

First there was Maclure himself, a native of Scotland, 
who made the first geological survey of the United States. 
He was the principal founder of the Philadelphia Academy 

1 George B. Lockwood, in The New Harmony Movement. 




William Maclure 



280 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

of Natural Sciences, and was president of the society. He 
visited Pestalozzi's school in Switzerland and was the first 
to introduce the system of that great educator in the United 
States. For his geological researches he was known as the 
" Father of American Geology." It was his expressed ambi- 
tion to make New Harmony the center of American edu- 
cation by introducing, and disseminating from there, the 
Pestalozzian system of instruction, and with this purpose 
Robert Owen was in fullest sympathy. 

Next there was Thomas Say, who had earned the title of 
the "' Father of American Zoology," and who devoted his 
time at New Harmony to the teaching of natural history. 
His wife was the talented Miss Lucy Sistare, who accom- 
panied the distinguished party of scientists and educators to 
New Harmony in January, 1826. Others were: Dr. Gerard 
Troost, the famous Dutch geologist, and Charles Lesueur, 
scientist and artist. Lesueur was the first to classify 
the fishes of the Great Lakes, and the first to publish 
a description of the mounds and earthworks left in Indiana 
by the prehistoric race of Mound Builders. Then there 
were John Chappelsmith, English artist and engraver; Con- 
stantine Samuel Raffinesque, an authority on natural history; 
Professor Joseph Neef, a student of Pestalozzi's school, and 
Madame Marie D. Fretageot and Phiquepal d'Arusmont, 
and other Pestalozzian teachers; Frances Wright, afterwards 
the wife of Professor d'Arusmont, who was among the first 
American advocates of women's rights; the four sons of 
Robert Owen, namely: Robert Dale, William, David Dale 
and Richard.^ 

1 Robert Dale Owen, one of the four sons of Robert Owen, carved out 
for himself a notable career, and during the years of his activity held rank 
among the state's ablest and most prominent citizens. He was a speaker 
of great power, and possessed rare talents as a writer. He was elected to 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 281 

On their way to New Harmony in January, 1826, most of 
this array of talent was borne in a keel boat which sailed from 
Pittsburg down the Ohio river to the mouth of the Wabash, 
thence up the Wabash to their destination. It has since been 
known as the '' boatload of knowledge." 

The Halfway House. The '' Preliminary Society of New 
Harmony," denominated by its founder as the " halfway 
house between the old and the new," was formed May 21, 
1825. The constitution was introduced by the modest 
statement that '' the society is instituted generally to pro- 
mote the happiness of the world." It provided that all 
members should render their best service for the good of the 
society, according to age, experience and capacity; that each 
member, within a fixed amount in value, should have the free 
choice of food and clothing, but above that amount no one 
should be permitted to draw on credit, except where it was 

the lower house of the Indiana Legislature in 1836 and reelected in 1838. 
serving two terms. He was elected to Congress in 1842, and again in 1844. 
In the legislature he advocated measures granting full property and social 
rights to women, and the establishment of ''free, equal and universal 
schools" at the state's expense. On both subjects he left the impress of 
his zeal upon the statutes. He was also a member of the Constitutional 
Convention of 1850, wherein he was able to accomplish a still greater 
service for the cause of popular education. As a member of Congress he 
became the legislative father of the Smithsonian Institution. Among his 
published works Beyond the Breakers, Footfalls on the Boundary of Another 
World, a book on spiritualism, and Threading My Way, his autobiography, 
are the best known. 

David Dale Owen held the office of State Geologist in 1837 and 1838 
and was elevated to the office of United States Geologist in 1839. Be- 
coming State Geologist again in 1859, after completing his work for the 
Government, he died in office, and was succeeded by his brother, Richard 
Owen, who served out his unexpired term and was himself reelected. 
Richard Owen made an honorable record in the war for the Union, and at 
its close became professor of natural sciences in the Indiana State Uni- 
versity, continuing in the position for fifteen years. William Owen, the 
other of the quartet of Robert Owen's sons, also possessed high intellec- 
tual powers, and made his mark as a teacher and journalist. 



282 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

necessary for the proprietor to engage scientific and ex- 
perienced persons at fixed salaries to superintend and teach, 
and fill other responsible positions. Such were to have a 
credit at the store according to their incomes. Otherwise the 
living should be upon equal terms to all. A credit and debit 
system for labor performed was provided. Provision was 
made for day schools and boarding schools for the children. 
Complete liberty of conscience for all was guaranteed, and 
differences between members were to be settled by arbitration. 

About a month after the adoption of this constitution 
Owen left the colony for New Lanark, Scotland, intending 
to bring his family back with him. He returned in January, 
1826, as a part of the freight of the '' boatload of knowledge " 
heretofore mentioned. 

Second Stage of the Experiment; Discord in Harmony. 
Upon his arrival Mr. Owen expressed great pleasure at the 
evidences of progress made, and announced that the '^ Pre- 
liminary society " should be dissolved at once, instead of 
waiting for the lapse of two years, as originally planned, and 
that the '^ Community of Perfect Equality " should be 
immediately inaugurated. A meeting was called and a com- 
mittee of seven chosen by ballot to draft a new constitution. 
No less than nine sessions of the convention were thereafter 
held before an agreement could be reached and the constitu- 
tion adopted. Then it fell far short of pleasing everybody. 
A number of the members of the society refused to sign it, 
and withdrawing to another portion of the estate founded a 
new society, which they called Macluria." 

Under the new constitution " services to the community 
were no longer to be rewarded in proportion to their worth, 
as under the Preliminary Society, but equal privileges and 
advantages were assured to every member." The new 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 283 

plan was a thousand times less sane and practicable than the 
old, and hastened the downfall of the experiment. Within 
two weeks after the formation of the permanent " Commu- 
nity of Equality " and the adoption of the new constitution, 
anarchy reigned. The unreconciled theorists and hobby 
riders broke loose in very earnest; even men of sense and 
judgment disagreed. There were arguments, contentions, 
and disputations, leading to general disorder and a practical 
suspension of all work and industries. Under these circum- 
stances the executive committee held a meeting and unani- 
mously invited Mr. Owen to take personal charge of the 
community. He accepted, and exercising a practical dicta- 
torship succeeded in bringing about a temporary calm. In 
March there was another secession, the second new com- 
munity being called '' Feiba Peveli." 

That there were drones in the society under the new order 
of things, which vouchsafed equal privileges to all, and loud 
complaints on the part of the working bees, is proved by a 
contributed article in the New Harmony Gazette^ the official 
organ of the society, in May, 1826, in which the writer 
complains that '' industrious members have been compelled 
to experience the unpleasant sensation of working for others 
who are either unwilling or unable to do their share of the 
labor." A return to the system of debits and credits was 
wisely suggested. Then there were suggestions for a rear- 
rangement of the members into smaller groups, preferably 
by occupations or trades, to insure a greater degree of '' con- 
geniality." And the idea to an extent was carried out, 
societies being formed of the educators, agriculturists, 
mechanics, etc., respectively. 

Owen's Great Faith; Reorganization. Robert Owen was 
ever hopeful, and could see nothing ahead but success for the 



284 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

New Harmony Community of Equality. The Duke of Saxe- 
Weimar visited the village at a time when practically every 
well-informed member was ready to admit that the beginning 
of the end was at hand, but of Owen the duke wrote: '' He 
looked forward to nothing else than to remodel the world; 
to root out all crime, to abolish punishment, to create similar 
views and similar wants, and in this manner to abolish all 
dissension and warfare." 

Another reorganization took place in September, 1826, 
whereby the official designation was changed to '* the New 
Harmony Community Number I," and the government was 
vest 3d in the proprietor and four directors of his appoint- 
ment. 

Imposed upon by Dishonest Men. Among the unscrupu- 
lous adventurers who came to New Harmony for the sole 
purpose of gaining selfish advantages, one William Taylor 
was probably the worst, and amply deserved the term in the 
penitentiary of a neighboring state which was finally awarded 
to him. Through some artifice he induced Robert Owen to 
sell him a tract of 1500 acres of land from the New Harmony 
estate, and the contract is reported to have read, '' with all 
thereon." And on the night before the contract was for- 
mally executed Taylor gathered up all the agricultural imple- 
ments, live stock and other property he could find on other 
portions of the estate, and moved them upon his own tract. 
And not content with this rascality, after having induced 
Owen to violate the principle of common property, he 
established a distillery on the purchased land contrary to 
Owen's wishes and in spite of his protest. Of the sale to 
Taylor, Paul Brown, a severe critic of Owenism, declared, 
" This maneuver swept away the last cobweb of fairy dreams 
of a common stock and community." 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 285 

The End Comes ; Owen's Last Address. On the first day 
of June, 1827, Owen took his departure for England, ex- 
pecting to return shortly. Practical disintegration of New 
Harmony, Macluria, Feiba Peveli, and the other off-shooting 
societies from the original organization, followed. Human 
selfishness and individualism could no longer be restrained, 
especially when the conviction that the propaganda was a 
failure had taken firm hold on nearly all minds, and in the 
absence of the one man in all the world who could wield a 
semblance of influence over the discordant elements that 
had been drawn together in this great " undigested " social- 
istic experiment. 

Owen came back in April, 1828, only to find his grand 
attempt at socialistic and communistic reform in hopeless 
collapse. But he was still reluctant to acknowledge defeat. 
In his last address in New Harmony Hall, April 13, 1828, 
he said: '' I had hoped that fifty years of political liberty 
had prepared the American people to govern themselves 
advantageously. I supplied land, houses, and the use of 
capital, and I tried, each in their own way, the different 
parties who collected here; and the experience proved that 
the attempt was premature, to unite a number of strangers 
not previously educated for the purpose. I afterwards tried 
what could be done by those who associated through their 
own choice and in small numbers; to those I gave leases of 
large tracts of good land for ten thousand years for a nominal 
rent, and upon moral conditions only; and these I did expect 
would have made progress during my absence; and now 
upon my return I find that the habits of the individual 
system were so powerful that these leases have been, with 
few exceptions, applied for individual purposes and indi- 
vidual gain, and in consequence they must return again 



286 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

into my hands. Monopolies have been estabhshed in certain 
departments without my indorsement; it was not my inten- 
tion to have a petty store and whisky shop here." In closing 
he said: " I can only feel regret instead of anger. My in- 
tention now is to form such arrangements on the estate as 
will enable those who desire to promote the practice of the 
social system to live in separate families on the individual 
system and yet to unite their general labor; or to exchange 
labor for labor on the most beneficial terms for all; all to do 
both or neither as their feelings or apparent interests may 
influence them, while the children shall be educated with a 
view to the establishment of the social system in the future." 

But very soon after Owen's departure all semblance of 
socialism disappeared. His financial loss is estimated at 
$200,000. The residue of the New Harmony property was 
conveyed to his four sons, they signing a deed of trust for 
$30,000, which yielded him an annuity of $1500, his only 
support for many years. 

After the failure at New Harmony, Owen returned to 
England, and continued to preach various reforms, princi- 
pall}' in the interests of the laboring classes. He died in 
1858, aged eighty-seven years. 

Bread upon the Waters; Real Significance of the Owen- 
Maclure Experiment. The true significance of the Owcn- 
Maclure experiment at New Harmony, as has truthfully 
been said, lies not so much in the things done as in the things 
attempted and the many beneficent influences set in motion. 
When account is taken of the progressive ideas promulgated 
so much in advance of contemporary thought, and of the 
reforms that grew, apparently, from the seeds sown at New 
Harmony, we should be slow to denounce the movement as 
having been wholly a failure. In its one central purpose, 



SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 287 

namely, to change and reform the existing social system, it 
was of course a grotesque failure. But other ideas, affecting 
the happiness and progress of the race, took deep root in the 
rich soil of progressive liberalism in the direction of equal 
and universal education, of means of culture for the masses, 
of freedom of thought and expression, and of an untram- 
meled conscience. It was in the schools of New Harmony 
that the idea of coeducation of the sexes was first put into 
practical operation, and the same educational advantages 
accorded to girls as to boys. It was in these schools that 
corporal punishment was first abolished as being both un- 
necessary and demoralizing to the child. Robert Owen and 
William Maclure were among the very first advocates of a 
system of state schools supported by the public purse, 
" wherein without cost every child might receive an educa- 
tion equal to that of his fellows," and Robert Dale Owen, 
the gifted son and disciple of Robert Owen, was a leader 
among those who later engrafted the principle into Indiana's 
constitution, and framed the laws establishing our present 
unequaled system of free public schools and universal 
education. Maclure's Workingmen's Institute, established 
at New Harmony in 1837, was the first of its kind in the 
United States, and it stands until this day a monument to 
his fame, as well as a model and prototype for the hundreds 
that have since sprung into existence in imitation of it. The 
first trade school, the first infant school and the first kinder- 
garten in America were those established at New Harmony, 
and it was from here that the Pestalozzian system of instruc- 
tion was first introduced into American schools. The second 
industrial school in the country was that established by 
Maclure at New Harmony. And William Maclure ante- 
dated Andrew Carnegie by a full half-century in that splendid 



288 SOCIALISTIC EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY 

form of philanthropy which finds expression in the gift of 
pubhc Hbraries. As a result of a provision in his will no 
fewer than one hundred and sixty frontier settlements were 
supplied with collections of good books for free circulation; 
one hundred forty-four of these were in Indiana, and sixteen 
in Illinois. 

New Harmony after the Experiment. Nor did New 
Harmony cease to be a center of educational activity and 
influence after the final collapse of the Owen socialistic- 
communistic experiment in 1828. William Maclure and 
others of the distinguished scientists, sociologists and educa- 
tors attracted during the stirring community days, remained 
at New Harmony, and the place continued to be a Mecca 
for scientists and educated travelers for many years. With 
David Dale Owen holding the office of United States Geolo- 
gist, New Harmony was headquarters of the United States 
Geological Survey from 1837 to 1856. It was here that 
Josiah Warren established his " Time Store " in 1842, and 
John James Audubon, the great ornithologist, then propri- 
etor of a sawmill at Henderson, Kentucky, was a frequent 
visitor. 

For its historic associations, the lessons it has taught, and 
the distinguished names that will always remain linked with 
the story of its being, New Harmony will never cease to be 
an interesting si5ot to the student and the thoughtful visitor. 

Note. — For an exhaustive study of the socialistic experiments at New 
Harmony, Col. George B. Lockwood's The New Harmony Movement is 
especially commended. 



GEOLOGIC INDIANA 



Sequence of Geologic Epochs, and the Origin of Natural Gas and 
Crude Petroleum. The geologist begins his reckonings with the Azoic 
age of Archaean time, when the oldest known rocks were formed, and 
there was neither vegetable nor animal life. After Archaean time there 
followed the geologic period known as Paleozoic time, or the "iEon of 
Ancient Life," embracing the Upper and Lower Silurian ages, the 
Devonian era, and the Carboniferous era. At the beginning of the 
Paleozoic period, which was doubtless many thousands of centuries in 
duration, what is now Indiana " was covered by a broad ocean which 
stretched far away to the southwest, while to the north and northeast 
it extended beyond the present sites of the Great Lakes." It was in 
the subdivision of Paleozoic time known as the Lower Silurian era that 
the Trenton rock, which in modern times became so notable as the 
source of natural gas and crude petroleum in Indiana, was laid down. 
The presence of these wonderful natural fuel products in the Trenton 
rocks, which are of hmestone formation, is due to the confinement by 
a sedimentary covering of myriads of polyps and other low forms of 
anim.al life, along with an abundant marine plant Hfe, which entered 
into the composition of the stone. Being shut off from the air by the 
water, the mud, and other materials, decay was prevented, and instead 
there occurred a slow process of decomposition, or distillation, which 
resulted in the formation of the gas and the oil. The process continued 
through aeons of time, but no new supply is being formed now. Like 
coal, the gas and oil are stored products, and canaot be replenished 
when exhausted. For a decade following the discovery of its com- 
mercial uses in 1886 the output of gas in Indiana was worth millions 
each year. But the supply was wasted by a huge prodigality that was 
little short of criminal. The diminished quantities being produced at 
the present time are devoted to light manufacturing and domestic 
uses only. Petroleum ranks next to coal among the state's most 
valuable natural resources. For the last eighteen years the product 
has averaged in value over four million dollars annually. The gas 
and oil area comprises between four thousand and five thousand square 
miles, with its center in the vicinity of Anderson, in Madison county. 

289 



290 GEOLOGIC INDIANA 

Building Stones and Caves. After the Lower and the Upper Silu- 
rian periods, the rocks of the Devonian epoch were laid down in the 
ocean and in time upheaved. These rocks are made up for the most 
part of limestone and black shales. The latter are sometimes mistaken 
for coal. They contain some oil, and will burn for a short time, but 
are of no value as fuel. From the limestones of this period what is 
known as hydraulic, or natural rock, cement is made in the southern 
part of the state. 

Following the Devonian period came that of the Lower Carbonif- 
erous. The rocks of this epoch are comprised of what is known as 
knobstone, or sand shales, and the Lower Carboniferous limestone. 

" Two features of this Lower Carboniferous area in Indiana are 
worthy of especial note. First is the Bedford oolitic limestone, which 
is noted as the finest building limestone in the United States. It is 
composed of the globular shells of minute one-celled animals, which 
were deposited in untold myriads in the sea waters of the time. The 
shells or cell walls of these animals were composed of a very pure form 
of carbonate of Ume, and when they died and sank on the old sea bot- 
toms they were cemented together by the same material. Under the 
lens they resemble a mass of fish eggs soldered together, hence the 
name ' oolitic,' which means ' like an egg.' The Bedford limestone 
is noted among architects for its strength and durability, and for the 
ease with which it may be sawed or carved into any desired form. 

" Second, it is among these Lower Carboniferous rocks of south- 
western Indiana that we find the noted caves of the state. These were 
formed in the limestone by the erosion of underground waters. Some 
of them possess great vaulted rooms, deep pits, high waterfalls, and 
streams of water large enough to allow the ready passage of a boat. 
All of these caves are due to the action of water. During the ages which 
have elapsed since the limestone was raised above the sea, it has carved 
every room and passage in these caves, and has formed, by solution 
and evaporation, the wonderful stalactites and other formations which 
decorate the walls and ceilings of the rooms. The largest and most 
noted of these caves is that known as ' Wyandotte,' in Crawford 
county, which excels in beauty the mammoth cave of Kentucky. It 
contains nearly five miles of subterranean passages, and the largest 
underground rooms known to man."^ 

Upper Carboniferous or Coal Era. It^ was sometime toward the 
close of the Lower Silurian era that the " Cincinnati Uplift " took 
place, which brought to the surface a large area of land, a part of it 

1 Professor Blatchley. 



GEOLOGIC INDIANA 291 

lying in what is now southeastern Indiana. Gradually by the work- 
ings of nature other portions of the state were lifted above the waters, 
and during the age of Acrogens, or the Carboniferous or coal-forming 
era, a rank vegetation grew upon the marshy shores of the warm inland 
sea. As time passed these growths developed into " boundless forests 
and jungles," and finally by another mild cataclysm of unstable nature 
they were submerged, and afterwards covered over with debris and 
marine deposits. Then through the process of other uncounted centu- 
ries these buried forests and jungles were converted into coal, which, 
by the release of its stored-up heat, is now contributing to the comfort 
and utility of the people of the world. Each of the five veins of coal 
existing under the surface of the state represents a separate emergence 
and submergence of the land sometime during those far-off, ancient 
times. 

The coal area comprises about 7500 square miles in the southwestern 
part of the state. The operations in this area have been sufficient 
during the last few years to place Indiana sixth in rank among the coal- 
producing states of the Union. The output in 1908, which because 
of the stringency of the times was somewhat below the average, amounted 
to 11,997,304 tons, valued roughly at twelve million dollars. It is 
estimated that over thirteen and a half billion tons of workable coal 
still remain beneath the surface, but at the present rate of removal the 
supply will be exhausted in less than two centuries. 

The Glacial Epoch, or the Age of Ice, and its Special Significance 
to the People of Indiana. Next following the Carboniferous era was 
the Mesozoic, or Middle time, corresponding to the age of Reptiles, 
then the Cenozoic, or Recent time, being classified also as the age of 
Mammals. The Cenozoic epoch is divided into Tertiary and Quater- 
nary eras, the last named being also commonly known as the Post- 
Tertiary era. The Glacial epoch, the results of which proved to be of 
such profound consequence to the people of Indiana, is generally as- 
signed to the Post-Tertiary period. 

It is fruitless to inquire the duration in years of these various geologic 
epochs. Not even an approximate answer can be given. Estimates 
have been attempted of the la[)se of time since the close of the glacial 
epoch, or the great ice invasion from the north, but this pretty nearly 
marks the boundary line of scientific daring. A year is so brief a 
measure of duration that it is inadequate and meaningless when used 
to express the time required by nature to complete her terrestrial and 
eosmic processes, even if we knew how to compute it. 

In endeavoring to account for that most singular phenomenon in 
the earth's geologic history, the glacial invasion, scientists have made 



292 GEOLOGIC INDIANA 

various estimates of the time since the era closed. These estimates 
range from eight thousand to thirty thousand years. The lower 
estimate is based largely upon computations of the annual rate of 
erosion of the beds of the Niagara and other rivers whose courses are 
known to have been changed by the glaciers. The purpose is to resolve, 
if possible, the more important question of whether or not the phe- 
nomenon will recur at some future time. With a return of the glacial 
period human habitation would not be possible, except perchance to 
some race like the Eskimos, anywhere in Canada, or in more than half 
of the United States. All of northern and most of central Europe would 
be similarly destroyed and depopulated. So the question of recurrence 
is a very important one, even though it may appear to concern future 
generations only. 

Although it may have been no more than ten thousand or twenty 
thousand years since the glaciers yielded to the power of the sun's rays, 
melted away and were carried to the ocean in the form of huge torrents 
of water, filling not merely the banks of present streams, but the wide 
valleys in which they lie, it was doubtless ages before that they began 
their resistless advance.^ On this continent the main gathering grounds 
of the glaciers appear to have been in Greenland, and around Hudson 
Bay, and to the westward. They were huge sheets of ice, accumulated 
through the falling, freezing and packing of snow. Scientists tell us 
that in places these accumulations were thousands of feet, aye, even 
miles in thickness, covering vast areas of land, and in some instances 
overtopping the summits of mountains. They moved slowly to the 
southward, in irregular, uneven lines of advance, cutting down moun- 
tains, smoothing away hills, filling the valleys and rasping and grinding 
the surface of the ground to undulating plains. As the glacier moved 
slowly forward " great masses of partly decayed rock and clay from 
hillsides and jutting cliffs rolled down upon it and were carried on and 
on until, by the melting of their icy steed, they were dropped hundreds 
of miles from the parent ledge." Usually along the edge of a glacier a 
long hne of drift, in the form of stones, sand and clay, much of it ground 
to powder, would be ridged up. These ridges still remain, marking the 
courses traveled by the glaciers, and are called moraines. Then when 
the glacier would stop, or arrive at a point where the sun would melt 
away the front of the ice sheet faster than it could advance, the rocks 
and debris, carried from the far north as above related, would fall to 
the ground and form other ridges, lying at right angles to the direction 

1 Thirty thousand years is the estimate of the lapse of time since the 
close of the glacial period favored by Prof. W. S. Blatchley, Indiana State 
Geologist. 



GEOLOGIC INDIANA 



293 



traveled by the glacier. These are known as terminal moraines. The 
moraines are one hundred to three hundred feet higher than the general 
level of the surrounding land in places, and frequently hills were formed 
by glacial action. Historic Bunker Hill, near Boston, is a conspicuous 
example of a glacial drift hill. 
There are evidences of repeated 
ice invasions, but all, apparently, 
took place during the one epoch. 

More than three fourths of the 
surface of Indiana was swept by 
these mammoth ice packs, the 
principal one advancing almost 
due south with vast lobelike pro- 
jections. The moraines over the 
state are numerous, ranging from 
twenty-five to fifty feet in height, 
and determining the courses of 
rivers in many instances. The 
unglaciated portion of the state 
is a triangular area, the base of 
which extends from the Wabash 
near New Harmony to a point 
about halfway between New 
Albany and Madison, on the 
Ohio, and the apex to a short 
distance north of Martins- 
ville, in Morgan county. 

Glacial Effects on Soil 
and Physical Conformation ; 
Aspect of a Glacier in 
Indiana. The evident 
glacial aspect as it appeared 
in Indiana is graphically 
presented by Mr. F. B. 
Taylor, of Fort Wayne. 

When the first ice sheet reached its greatest advance into the region, the 
ice, this writer declares, '' was at least five hundred or six hundred feet 
deep over the present site of Terre Haute and nearly as deep over that 
of Indianapolis, and it thickened gradually northward. If an observer 
could have stood on one of the hills in Brown county at that time, he 
would have seen to the east of him the great wall of the ice front extend- 
ing south toward Kentucky, while toward the we^ it would have been 

Moore, Ixn.— 19 




INDIANA 

At the Close of the Glacial Epoch 
legend: 



Unglaciated I I 
Aj^ea I I 



lUinoian I 
Drift Area I 



Wisconsin I 
Drift Areal 



294 GEOLOGIC INDIANA 

seen in the distance stretching away toward the southwest. For 
hundreds of miles to the east and west, and for two thousand miles or 
more to the north, the glaring white desert of snow-covered ice, like 
that in the interior of Greenland, would have appeared, stretching away 
out of sight, with not a thing under the sun to relieve its cold monotony." 

Prof. W. S. Blatchley, State Geologist, describes most interestingly 
the effects of the visitation upon soil and conformation and upon the 
animal life of the period: " By the incursions of the various ice sheets 
all the so-called ' drift soils ' of northern and central Indiana were 
accumulated where they lie. Derived, as they were, in part, from the 
various primary and igneous rocks in the far north, ground fine and 
thoroughly mixed as they were by the onward moving force of a mighty 
glacier, they are usually rich in all the necessary constituents of plant 
food. Principally to them does Indiana owe her present high rank as 
an agricultural state. All the level and more fertile counties lie within 
this drift-covered area, and its southern limit marks, practically, the 
boundary of the great corn and wheat producing portion of the state. 
But few of the inhabitants of Indiana realize how much they owe to 
this glacial invasion of our domain in the misty past. It not only 
determined the character of the soil, the contour of the country and the 
minor lines of drainage, but in manifold other ways had to do with the 
pleasure, the health, and the prosperity of the present population. 

" When the final ice sheet gradually receded from the area now com- 
prising Indiana, the surface of the glaciated portion was left covered 
with a sheet of drift or till composed mainly of clay, gravel and bowlders, 
and varying in thickness from one to four hundred feet or more. Over 
the greater portion of this area the surface of the drift was compara- 
tively level, but in the northern fourth of the state it was in numerous 
places heaped up in extensive ridges and hills, due to irregular dumping 
along the margins and between the lobes of the melting ice sheets. In 
the hollows or low places between those ridges and hills the waters of 
the melting ice accumulated and formed those hundreds of fresh-water 
lakes which are to-day the most beautiful and expressive features of 
the landscape in the region where they abound. At first all of those 
yet in existence were much larger than now, while for every one re- 
maining a score have become extinct. 

" A new vegetation soon sprang up over the land left desolate and 
barren by the retreating ice. The climate gradually became much 
warmer than it is to-day. The great expanse of water in lakes and 
rivers, aided by the increase in temperature, gave rise to excessive 
moisture. Fostered by the rich soil and the mild, moist atmosphere, 
a vast forest of deciduous trees spread over the larger portion of the 



GEOLOGIC INDIANA 295 

state. Through this forest and about the marg;ins of the lakes and 
marshes there wandered for centuries the mammoth and the mastodon, 
the giant bison and the elk, the tapir and the peccary, the mighty sloth, 
and that king of rodents, Casloroides Ohioensis. Preying upon these 
and smaller mammals were the great American lion, and tigers and 
wolves of mammoth size. The bones and teeth of all these extinct 
animals have been found buried beneath the surfaces of former bogs 
and marshes in various portions of the state. It is not improbable that 
with them was also that higher mammal — man — in all the nakedness 
of his primitive existence. 

" But over this phase in the evolution of the future Indiana there 
came again a change, for Nature know^s no such thing as rest. , . . 
The climate gradually grew less moist, more cool. The mammoth, 
the mastodon and contemporaneous mammals disappeared, and in their 
stead came countless thousands of buffalo and deer. With them came, 
too, that son of Nature — that descendant of the naked barbarians of 
centuries before — the noble Red Man. From out of that dark night 
which hangs forever over all we know or shall know of early America 
he came — a waif flung by the surge of time to these later ages of our 
own." 

What Caused the Glacial Period ? Some Theories Advanced. IVIany 
theories have been advanced in attempted explanation of the causes 
leading to the formation of the glaciers, but scarcely is an hypothesis 
comfortably worked out and labeled by one scientist when another 
comes along and deals demolition to it in the form of objections that 
cannot be answered. There is no generallj^ accepted scientific explana- 
tion. It is known that a climatic change was brought about b}^ some 
unexplained phenomenon which resulted in an extraordinary sno^ 
precipitation in the north, and that the temperature was at the same 
time lowered to a point which maintained the snow in a frozen condition 
through all the seasons. It therefore continued to pile up and compress 
itself into ice year after year, and century after century, until it was 
thousands of feet in depth, and began to be crowded to the southward 
by the weight of its own enormous mass and by its powers of expansion. 
As it advanced it carried with it into the more southern climes the cold 
breath of the arctics, and by so doing prolonged the conditions which 
made its existence possible. The reasons for the glacier must necessarily 
be sought in the influences which changed the climate. One theory 
advanced is that a change took place in the elevation of the land in the 
northern hemisphere, the higher altitude conducing to a lowTr tempera- 
ture, hence the unmelting snow and the glacier; that the weight of 
the glacier, when it had reached its greatest development, caused a 



2^6 GEOLOGIC INDIANA 

subsidence of the crust of the still plastic earth, restoring the former 
climatic conditions, when the ice melted away. 

Others have sought explanation in possible changes in the direction 
of ocean currents, or the prevailing winds, or other causes leading to 
changes in the distribution of the earth's heat. One theory is based 
upon a shifting of the polar axis. Probably the most elaborate theory, 
and the one which appealed to scientists for the longest time, was that 
urged by Professor Croll. The Croll hypothesis is based primarily 
upon the " precession of the equinoxes." The earth is now in peri- 
helion in the winter time, and three millions of miles nearer the sun than 
in the summer time, when it is in aphelion. But 10,500 years ago the 
condition was the reverse, the earth being farthest from the sun in the 
winter time and nearest in the summer. This reversal of present-day con- 
ditions was thought sufficient by Professor Croll, and those accepting his 
views, to have effected a change of climate in the northern hemisphere 
that might, in conjunction with other contributing causes, account for 
the glaciers. According to this theory, another glacial period might 
confidently be expected 10,500 years hence, when the astronomical 
conditions of 10,500 years ago will exactly recur. This would fix a 
periodicity of 21,000 years for the return of the glaciers. In objection 
it is about sufficient to say that there are evidences of only one glacial 
period, whereas if the theory explained were true there should have 
been one ever\^ 21,000 years throughout all the ages that have elapsed 
since the earth's internal heat subsided, or the present crust was formed. 
Then it is pointed out that the earth receives the same amount of heat 
in the course of the year, whether nearest the sun in summer or in 
winter. 

Other theories have to do with changes in the earth's internal heat, 
changes in the temperature of space, and variability in the power of 
the sun. 

But the mystery remains unsolved, and for the present must continue 
among the baffling secrets which Nature still chooses to withhold from 
inquiring man. 



MISCELLANEOUS FACTS OF INTEREST 



Indiana the Hub of the Union. The interesting imaginary point 
representing the center of gravity of the country's population has been 
located in Indiana for the last two decades. It is spoken of as the 
" center of population," and is calculated anew with the completion 
of each United States census. In 1890 it was found to be near Greens- 
burg, in Decatur County, having traveled westward from near Cin- 
cinnati since 1880. Between 1890 and 1900 it moved about twenty 
miles still farther westward, settling down at a point near Columbus, 
in Bartholomew County. And in no other census decade did it come so 
near remaining stationary, indicating almost an equal balance in the 
growth of population as between the east and the west, and the north and 
the south. In 1790, the date of the first census, the center of popula- 
tion was near Baltimore, Maryland. In the 110 years between that 
date and the twelfth census in 1900, it traveled a distance of about 
500 miles, following the 39th parallel westward, with but slight varia- 
tions to the north or the south. It is beheved that the census of 1910 
will confirm to Indiana the honor of being the " Hub of the Union " 
for another ten years, as there seems to have been no unusual move- 
ment or growth of population in any particular locality that would 
influence the center of gravity more than a few miles. 

The Grave of Nancy Hanks Lincoln. A sacred spot on Indiana soil 
is the grave of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the mother of our first martyred 
President. It is located near the little town of Lincoln City, in Spencer 
County, and a beautiful but unostentatious monument marks the site. 
The grave and twenty-one acres of land surrounding it constitute a 
public reservation, owned by the state. The grounds were donated by 
Spencer County, and the monument was erected with funds raised by 
popular subscription. The care of the grave, and the beautification of 
the grounds, are intrusted to a board of commissioners consisting of 
three members, two of whom are appointed by the governor, the third 
being the secretary of the state board of forestry, acting ex-officio. 
Five thousand dollars were appropriated by the legislature of 1907 to 
be used in inclosing and improving the grounds, and an annual appro- 
priation of five hundred dollars was voted for keeping the premises in 
condition and repair. 

297 



298 



MISCELLANEOUS FACTS OF INTEREST 



About ono-half mile from the little cemetery in which Nancy Hanks 
Lincoln found a last resting place, and now included in this reservation, 
stands the " Lincoln Tree," which marks the spot where stood the 
humble cabin home of the Lincolns during their residence in Indiana. 
The family had moved there from Kentucky to escape an epidemic of 
" milk sickness," which had attained almost to the proportions of a 
scourge in their native state. Here young Abraham spent a part of 
his boyhood days, and suffered his first great grief, caused by the death 
of his mother. 

State Erects Monument to Indians. In other localities monuments to 
famous Indians have been erected with contributions by white people, 




Monument to Nancy Hanks Lincoln 



but Indiana is probably the only state making an appropriation from 
public funds for the construction of a memorial to the vanished race 
of Red Men. At the legislative session of 1907 an appropriation of 
$2500 was voted for the purpose of acquiring suitable grounds at 
Menominee Village, in Marshall County, erecting a monument thereon, 
and rebuilding the old Indian chapel long since fallen into decay. The 
provisions of the act being complied with, a beautiful monument, cut 



MISCELLANEOUS FACTS OF INTEREST 299 

from Vermont granite, was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies, on 
September 4, 1909. It consists of a pedestal ten feet high, surmounted 
by a statue of an Indian seven feet high. 

The Indians of Menominee were Potawatami. Chief Menominee, 
head of the village, and a number of his people were forcibly removed 
to a western reservation in 1838. Before going a last grand council 
was held, at which the heartbroken chief made an address full of im.- 
passioned eloquence, reciting the many wrongs visited upon his people 
by their white brothers. He was a convert to Christianit}-, and had 
worshiped at the little Indian chapel for many years. The reconstructed 
chapel and the monument are located at Twin Lakes, five miles from 
Plymouth. 

The Hoosier's Nest. The widespread use of the term ''Hoosier," as 
applied to the people of Indiana, received its first great impetus in the 
publication in the Indianapolis Journal, in 1833, of John Finly's cele- 
brated poem, " The Hoosier's Nest." It appeared in the form of an 
annual " Carrier's Address," and was written from the author's home 
at Richmond. 

In the first edition of the poem the appellation was spelled" Hoosher." 
In subsequent revisions the author changed the spelhng to " Hoosier." 
" Hooshier " was another early form of the word, indicating an evolu- 
tion, as well as an uncertain origin and meaning. ' 

In the poem the subject of Indiana is first approached in the hnes: 

" Blest Indiana! In whose soil, 
Men seek the sure rewards of toil. 
And honest poverty and worth 
Find here the best retreat on earth, 
While hosts of preachers, doctors, lawyers, 
All independent as wood sawyers. 
With men of every hue and fashion. 
Flock to this rising Hoosier Nation." 

But the graphic and ingenuous description of the Hoosier's nest is 
what gave point to the poem and made it immortal: 

" Suppose in riding somewhere West 
A stranger found a Hoosier's Nest, 
In other words, a buckeye cabin 
Just big enough to hold Queen Mab in. 
Its situation low but airy, 
Was on the borders of a prairie, 
And fearing he might be benighted 
He hailed the house and then alighted. 



800 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS OF INTEREST 

The Hoosier met him at the door, 

He took the stranger's horse aside 

And to a sturdy sapUng tied; 

Then, having stripped the saddle off, 

He fed him in a sugar trough. 

The stranger stooped to enter in, 

The entrance closing with a pin, 

And manifested strong desire 

To seat him by the log heap fire, 

Where half a dozen Hoosieroons, 

With mush and milk, tin cups and spoons, 

White heads, bare feet and dirty faces, 

Seemed much inclined to keep their places. 

But Madam, anxious to display 

Her rough and undisputed sway, 

Her offspring to the ladder led 

And cuffed the youngsters up to bed. 

Invited shortly to partake 

Of venison, milk and johnny-cake. 

The stranger made a hearty meal 

And glances round the room would steal. 

One side was lined with skins of varments. 

The other spread with divers garments. 

Dried pumpkins overhead were strung 

Where venison hams in plenty hung, 

Two rifles placed above the door, 

Three dogs lay stretched upon the floor. 

In short, the domicile was rife, 

With specimens of Hoosier life. 

" The host who centered his affections, 
On game, and range, and quarter sections. 
Discoursed his weary guest for hours, 
Till Somnus' ever potent powers 
Of sublunary care bereft them, 
And then I came away and left them. 
No matter how the story ended. 
The application I intended 
Is from the famous Scottish poet, 
Who seemed to feel as well as know it, 
' That buirdly chiels and clever hizzies 
Are bred in sic a way as this is.' " 

Reference Note. — An exhaustive study of the origin and significance 
of the term " Hoosier," prepared by that most accurate and painstaking 
student of early Indiana history, .Jacob Piatt Dunn, appears in the Indiana 
Historical Society Publications, Vol. IV., No. 2, published by the Bobbs- 
Merrill Company, Indianapolis, 1007. 



MISCELLANEOUS FACTS OF INTEREST 301 

Distinguished Talent From BrookviUe. The quaint old town of 
Brookville, located in the valley of the swift-running White Water, 
and nestling cozily among the rugged though picturesque hills or 
Franklin County, claims the honor of having furnished to the state and 
to the world more distinguished talent than any other spot of equal 
dimensions on the map. It is one of the oldest towns in the state 
following the original French settlements, and its founders represented 
the best blood of the early New England stock as it began to release 
its vitalizing flood toward the great new west. 

Comprised within the honor roll of distinguished citizens past and 
present who have claimed Brookville as home by reason of birth or 
bona fide residence, are the following: Hiram Powers, the world-famed 
sculptor and artist; James B. Eads, builder of the St^Louis bridge and 
constructor of the Mississippi jetties; James Brown Ray, Noah Noble, 
David Wallace! ^nd Abram A. Hammond", governors of Indiana; 
John P St John, governor of Kansas; Stephen S. Harding, governor 
of Utah; James Noble and Robert Hanna, United States Senators from 
Indiana and Jesse B. Thomas and John Henderson, Senators from 
Illinois and Mississippi, respectively; Congressman John Test; General 
Lew Wallace, soldier, diplomat and author; Rear Admiral Oliver H 
Glisson; Capt. W. F. Herndon, explorer of the Amazon country, and 
officer in the United States Navy, who went down to death in 1857 
while standing heroically at his post on the Central America, when 
thatill-fated vesselsank beneath the sea with her five hundred passengers 
and two millions of treasure on board; Postmaster General James ^. 
Tyner, and Assistant James Clarkson; Edward H. Terrell, minister 
to Belgium, and George C. Hitt, vice consul to London; General Pleas- 
ant A. Hackleman. And the list might be prolonged, but enough 
is given to justify Brookville's pride in the achievements of her 
sons. Maurice Thompson, author of Alice of Old Vincennes, waa 
born at Fairfield, also in Franklin County. 

1 Wallace also represented his district in Congress, and in 1843 cast the 
deciding vote in favor of the appropriation to aid Prof. S. F. B. Morse to 
construct the first telegraph. The act brought him ridicule and censure 
at home, and caused his defeat for re-election. The people thought the 
scheme foolish and visionary, and resented the expenditure of public 
funds to promote dreams. Governor Wallace was the father of Gen. Lew 
Wallace. 

= Lieutenant governor under Governor WiUard, and acting governor 
after his chief's death in 18G0. 



UNITED STATES SENATORS FROM INDIANA 



James Noble, from 1816 to 1831. 

Waller Taylor, from 1816 to 1825. 

William Hendricks, from 1825 to 1837. 

Robert Hanna (appointed, vice Noble), 1831. 

John Tipton (appointed), from 1831 to 1833. 

John Tipton, from 1833 to 1839. 

Oliver H. Smith, from 1837 to 1843. 

Albert S. White, from 1839 to 1845. 

Edward A. Hannegan, from 1843 to 1849. 

Jesse D. Bright, from 1846 to 1862.' 

James Whitcomb, from 1849 to 1852.^ 

Charles W. Cathcart (appointed, vice Whitcomb), from 1852 to 1853. 

John Petit, from 1853 to 1855. 

Graham N. Fitch, from 1857 to 1861.^ 

Joseph A. Wright (appointed, vice Bright), from 1862 to 1863. 

Henry S. Lane, from 1861 to 1867. 

David Turpie, 1863. (Unexpired term of Bright.) 

Thomas A. Hendricks, from 1863 to 1869. 

Oliver P. Morton, from 1867 to 1877. (Died.) 

Daniel D. Pratt, from 1869 to 1875. 

Joseph E. McDonald, from 1875 to 1881. 

Daniel W. Voorhees (appointed, vice Morton), from 1877 to 1879. 

Daniel W. Voorhees, from 1879 to 1897. 

Benjamin Harrison, from 1881 to 1887. 

David Turpie, from 1887 to 1899. 

Charles W. Fairbanks, from 1897 to 1905." 

Albert J. Beveridge, from 1899 to . 

James A. Hemenway, from 1905 to 1909 
Benjamin F Shively, from 1909 to . 

' Expelled February 5, 1862. (Vacancy one year, 1845.) 

2 Died, and was succeeded by John Petit. 

' The position remained vacant for two years, and was filled by election 
of Graham N. Fitch, 1857. 

* Resigned March 4, 1905, having been elected Vice-President; James A. 
Hemenwav elected to succeed. 

302 



POPULATION AND VOTING STATISTICS 



303 



POPULATION OF INDIANA FROM 1800 TO 1910, WITH 
INCREASE FOR EACH DECADE, BY NUMBER 
AND PER CENT 





Population. 


Increase. 




Number. 


Per Cent. 


1800 


5,641 

24,520 

147,178 

343,031 

685,866 

988,416 

1,350,428 

1,680,637 

1,978.301 

2,192,404 

2,516,462 

2,843,602 






1810 

1820 


18,879 
122,658 
195,853 
342,835 
303,550 
362,012 
330,209 
297,664 
214,103 
324.058 
327,140 


334.7 
500 2 


1830. 


133 1 


1840. 


99 9 


1850. 


44 1 


1860 

1870 

1880 

1890 


36.6 
24.5 
17.7 
10 8 


1900. 


14 8 


M910. 


13 







^ The figures for 1910 are estimates. 

INDIANA'S VOTE AT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS FROM 
1820 TO 1908 



Year. 



1820 
1824 

1828 
1832 
1836 
1840 



Candidates. 



James Monroe, Democrat-Rep. 



Andrew Jackson, Dem 

Henry Clay, Whiff 

^ John Q. Adams, National Rep.. 



^ Andrew Jackson, Dem 

John Q. Adams, National Rep. 

^ Andrew Jackson, Dem 

Henry Clay, Whig 



MVilliam Henry Harrison, Whig. 
Martin Van Biiren, Dem 



Popular 
Vote. 



(No op- 
position) 
7,343 
5,315 
3,095 

22,237 
17,625 

31,552 
15,472 

41,281 
32,480 



MVilliam Henry Harrison, Whig 
Martin Van Buren, Dem 

- The candidate that was elected 



65,362 
51,695 



Plurality. 





5 


2,028 


5 






4,585 


5 


16,070 


9 


8,801 


9 


13.667 


12 



Elec- 
toral 
Vote. 



804 



POPULATION AND VOTINC STATfSriCS 



Year. 



Candidates. 



1844 



1848 



1852 



1856 



1860 



1864 



1868 



1872 



1876 



1880 



1884 



1888 



* James K. Polk, Dem 

Henry Clay, Whig 

J. G. Birney, Abolitionist 



Lewis Cass, Dem 

Zachary Taylor, Whig 

Martin Van Buren, Free Soil Dem. 



Franklin Pierce, Dem 

Winfield Scott, Whig 

John P. Hale, Abolitionist 



James Buchanan, Dem 

John C. Fremont, Rep 

Millard Fillmore, American 

Abraham Lincoln, Republican. . . 

Stephen A. Douglass, Dem 

John C. Breckenridge, Dem 

John Bell, Constitutional Union. 

Abraham Lincoln, Rep 

George B. McClellen, Dem 



^Ulysses S. Grant, Rep.. 
Horatio Seymour, Dem. 



' Ulysses S. Grant, Rep 

Horace Greeley, Fusion-Dem. 

Samuel J . Tilden , Dem 

' Rutherford B. Hayes, Rep — 



James A. Garfield, Rep... . 
Winfield S. Hancock, Dem 
James B. Weaver, Prohib.. 



Grover Cleveland, Dem 

James G. Blaine, Rep 

Benjamin F. Butler, Labor. 
John P. St. John, Prohib. . . 



Benjamin Harrison, Rep. 
Grover Cleveland, Dem.. 
Clinton P. Fisk, Prohib.. 
Alson J. Streeter, Labor., 



Popular 
Vote. 



70,181 

67,867 

3,106 

74,745 

69,907 

8,109 

95,340 

80,901 

6,929 

118,670 
94,375 
22,386 

139,033 

115,509 

12,295 

5,303 

150,452 
130,233 

176,548 
166,980 

186,147 
163,632 

213,526 
208,011 

232,164 

225,522 

12,896 

244,990 

238,463 

8,293 

3,028 

263,361 
261.013 
9,881 
2.694 i 



Plurality. 


Elec- 
toral 
Vote. 


2,314 


12 






4.838 


12 







14,439 


13 






24,295 


13 






23,524 


13 










20,219 


13 


9,568 


13 


22,515 


15 


5,515 


15 


6,642 


15 






6,527 


15 










2,318 


15 














* The candidate that was elected. 



POPULATION AND VOTING STATISTICS 



305 



Year. 


Candidates. 


Popular 
Vote. 


Plurality. 


Elec- 
toral 
Vote. 


1892 


' Grover Cleveland, Dem. 


262,740 

255,615 

22,028 

13,050 

323,754 

305,573 

2,145 

5,323 

336,063 

309,584 

13,718 

368,289 

274,355 

23,496 

11,762 

348,993 

338,262 

18,045 

13,476 


7,125 


15 




Benjamin Harrison 






James B. Weaver, Populist 

John Bidwell. Prohib 












1896 


^ William McKinley, Rep 


18,181 


15 




William J. Bryan, Dem 






John M. Palmer, Gold Dem 

Joshua Levering, Prohib 












1900 


^ William McKinley, Rep 


26,479 


15 




William J. Bryan, Dem 






John G. WooUey, Prohib 

^ Theodore Roosevelt, Rep 

Alton B. Parker, Dem 






1904 


93,934 


15 




Silas C. Swallow, Prohib 

Eugene V. Debs, Socialist 

1 William H. Taft, Rep 












1908 


10,731 


15 




William J. Bryan, Dem 

Eugene W. Clafin, Prohib 

Eugene V. Debs, Socialist 























The candidate that was elected. 



From the foregoing table it is ascertained that out of twenty-three 
presidential elections in which Indiana has participated, she . has been 
able to " pick the winner " in all but four. Hence with her reputation 
of being " doubtful," having voted with every leading party, and 
switched from one to another with great facility, there appears to be 
method in her madness. In other words, the political judgment of her 
people seldom errs. The record presented in this respect is unique, not 
being equaled in any other state. The four elections in which In- 
diana wasted her electoral votes on losing candidates were: 1824, 1836, 
1848 and 1876. 



306 



POPULATION AND VOTING STATISTICS 



POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AT EACH CENSUS 

DECADE FROM 1790 TO 1910, WITH INCREASE FOR 

EACH DECADE BY NUMBER AND PER CENT 



Census Year. 


Population. 


Increase. 


Number. 


Per Cent. 


1790 


3,929,214 

5,308,483 

7.239,881 

9.638,453 

12,866.020 

17,069.453 

23,191,876 

31.443.321 

38,558.371 

50.189,209 

63,069,756 

76.303.387 

90.037,987 






1800 


1,379,269 

1,931,398 

2,398,572 

3.227,567 

4,203,433 

6,122,423 

8,251,445 

7,115,050 

11,630,838 

12.880,547 

13.233,631 

13.734,600 


35.1 


1810 


36.4 


1820 


33.1 


1830 


33.5 


1840 


32.7 


1850 


35.9 


I860 


35.6 


1870 


22.6 


1880 


30.2 


1890 


25.7 


1900 

1910 


21.0 
18.0 







The figures for 1910 are estimates. 



THE PRESIDENTS 



307 



THE PRESIDENTS 



President, and by what Party 
Elected. 




George Washington, 

Whole People 

John Adams, Federalist. . 
Thomas Jefferson, Dem.- ( 

Rep S 

James Madison, Dem.- I 

Rep ( 

James Monroe, Dem .-Rep 
John Q. Adams, House I 

of Rep ( 

Andrew Jackson, Dem. . . 

Martin Van Biiren, Dem. 
William H. Harrison, I 

Whig f 

John Tyler, Whig 

James K. Polk, Dem 

Zaehary Taylor, Whig. . . . 
Millard Fillmore, Whig . . 
Franklin Pierce, Dem.. . . 
James Buchanan, Dem. . . 

Abraham Lincoln, Rep.. . 

Andrew Johnson, Rep. 

Ulysses S. Grant, Rep.. . . 

Rutherford B. Hayes, Rep 
James A. Garfield, Rep.. 
Chester A. Arthur, Rep. 
Grover Cleveland, Dem.. 
Benjamin Harrison, Rep 
Grover Cleveland, Dem.. 

William McKinley, Rep. 

Theodore Roosevelt, Rep 
William H. Taft, Rep. . . , 



Virginia 

Mass. 
Virginia 

Virginia 
Virginia 

Mass. 

Tenn. 

New York 

Ohio 

Virginia 
Tenn. 
Louisiana 
New York 
N. Hamp 
Penn. 

niinois 

Tenn. 

Hlinois 

Ohio 
Ohio 

New York 
New York 
Indiana 
New York 

Ohio 

New York 
Ohio 



Term of 
Office. 



Vice-President 



1789-1797 
1797-1801 
1801-1809 

1809-1817 
1817-1825 
1825-1829 

1829-1837 

1837-1841 

Imo. 1841 

1841-1845 
1845-1849 
1849-1850 
1850-1853 
1853-1857 
1857-1861 

1861-1865 

1865-1869 

1869-1877 

1877-1881 
6 mo. 1881 
1881-1885 
1885-1889 
1889-1893 
1893-1897 

1897-1901 

1901-1909 
1909- 



John Adams 

Thos. Jefferson 

Aaron Burr 

Geo. Clinton 

Geo. Clinton 

Elbridge Gerry 
Dan'l D. Tompkins 

John C. Calhoun 

John C. Calhoun 
Martin Van Buren 
Richard M. Johnson 

John Tyler 



Geo. M. Dallas 
Millard Fillmore 



Wm. R. King 
Jno.C. Breckinridge 
\ Hannibal Hamlin 
) Andrew Johnson 



Schuyler Colfax 
Henry B. Wilson 



W 



A. Wheeler 



Chester A. Arthur 



Thos. A. Hendricks 
Levi P. Morton 
Adlai E. Stevenson 
j Garret A. Hobart 
I Theo. Roosevelt 

Chas .W.Fairbanks 
James S. Sherman 



CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 



PREAMBLE 



To the end, that justice be established, pubUc order maintained, and 
Uberty perpetuated; We, the people of the State of Indiana, 
grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose 
our own form of government, do ordain this Constitution. 

ARTICLE I 

BILL OF RIGHTS 

Section L We declare, that all men are created equal; that they 
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that all 
power is inherent in the people; and that all free governments are, and 
of right ought to be, founded on th^ir authority, and instituted for 
their peace, safety, and well being. For the advancement of these 
ends, the people have, at all times, an indefeasible right to alter and 
reform their government. 

Sec. 2. All men shall be secured in their natural right to worship 
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. 

Sec. 3. No law shall, in any case whatever, control the free exer- 
cise and enjoyment of religious opinions, or interfere with the rights of 
conscience. 

Sec. 4. No preference shall be given, by law, to any creed, religious 
society, or mode of worship; and no man shall be compelled to attend, 
erect, or support, any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, 
against his consent. 

Sec. 5. No religious test shall be required, as a qualification for 
any office of trust or profit. 

Sec. 6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, for the benefit 
of any religious or theological institution. 

Sec. 7. No person shall be rendered incompetent as a witness, in 
consequence of his opinions on matters of religion. 

Sec. 8. The mode of administering an oath or affirmation shall be 
Moore, Ind. — 20 309 



310 CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 

such as may be most consistent with, and binding upon, the conscience 
of the person to whom such oath or affirmation may be administered. 

Sec. 9. No law shall be passed restraining the free interchange of 
thought and opinion, or restricting the right to speak, write, or print, 
freely, on any subject whatever; but for the abuse of that right, every 
person shall be responsible. 

Sec. 10. In all prosecutions for libel, the truth of the matters 
alleged to be libelous may be given in justification. 

Sec. 11. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search or seizure, 
shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable 
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing 
the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized. 

Sec. 12. All courts shall be open; and every man for injury done 
him in his person, property, or reputation, shall have remedy by due 
course of law. Justice shall be administered freely, and without pur- 
chase; completely and without denial; speedily and without delay. 

Sec. 13. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the 
right to a public trial, by an impartial jury, in the county in which 
the offense shall have been committed; to be heard by himself and 
counsel; to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against 
him, and to have a copy thereof; to meet the witnesses face to face, and 
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor. 

Sec. 14. No person shall be put in jeopardy twice for the same 
offense. No person, in any criminal prosecution, shall be compelled 
to testify against himself. 

Sec. 15. No person arrested, or confined in jail, shall be treated 
with unnecessary rigor. 

Sec. 16. Excessive bail shall not be required. Excessive fines shall 
not be imposed. Cruel and unusual punishment shall not be inflicted. 
All penalties shall be proportioned to the nature of the offense. 

Sec. 17. Offenses, other than murder and treason, shall be bailable 
by sufficient sureties. Murder and treason shall not be bailable, when 
the proof is evident or the presumption strong. 

Sec. 18. The penal code shall be founded on the principles of 
reformation, and not of vindictive justice. 

Sec. 19. In all criminal cases whatever, the jury shall have the 
right to det.ermine the law and the facts. 

Sec. 20. In all civil cases, the right of trial by jury shall remain 
inviolate. 

Sec. 21. No man's particular services shall be demanded without 
just compensation. No man's property shall be taken by law without 



CONST TUT ION OF INDIANA 311 

just compensation; nor, except in case of the State, without such com- 
pensation first assessed and tendered. 

Sec. 22. The privilege of the debtor to enjoy the necessary com- 
forts of life, shall be recognized by wholesome laws, exempting a rea- 
sonable amount of property from seizure or sale for the payment of any 
debt or liability hereafter contracted; and there shall be no imprison- 
ment for debt, except in case of fraud. 

Sec. 23. The General Assembly shall not grant to any citizen, or 
class of citizens, privileges or immunities, which, upon the same terms, 
shall not equally belong to all citizens. 

Sec. 24. No ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of 
contract, shall be passed. 

Sec. 25. No law shall be passed, the taking effect of which shall be 
made to depend upon any authority, except as provided in this Con- 
stitution. 

Sec. 26. The operation of the laws shall never be suspended, ex- 
cept by the authority of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 27. The privileges of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 
suspended, except in case of rebellion or invasion; and then, only if 
the public safety demand it. 

Sec. 28. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying 
war against it, and in giving aid and comfort to its enemies. 

Sec. 29. No person shall be convicted of treason, except on the 
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or upon his confes- 
sion in open court. 

Sec. 30. No conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture 
of estate. 

Sec. 31. No law shall restrain any of the inhabitants of the State 
from assembling together in a peaceable manner to consult for their 
common good; nor from instructing their representatives; nor from 
applying to the General Assembly for redress of grievances. 

Sec. 32. The people shall have a right to bear arms for the defense 
of themselves and the State. 

Sec. 33. The military shall be kept in strict subordination to the 
civil power. 

Sec. 34. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any 
house without the consent of the owner; nor, in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 35. The General Assembly shall not grant any title of nobility 
nor confer hereditary distinctions. 

Sec. 36. Emigration from the State shall not be prohibited. 

Sec. 37. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 



312 CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 

within the State, otherwise than for the punishment of crim(% whereof 
the party shall have been duly convicted. No indenture of any Negro 
or Mulatto, made and executed out of the bounds of the State, shall 
be valid within the State. 



ARTICLE II 

SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS 

Section 1. All elections shall be free and equal. 

Sec. 2. In all elections, not otherwise provided for by this Consti- 
tution, every male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty- 
one years and upwards, who shall have resided in the State during the 
six months, and in the township sixty days, and in the ward or precinct 
thirty days immediately preceding such election; and every male of 
foreign birth, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who shall 
have resided in the United States one year, and shall have resided in 
this State during the six months, and in the township sixty days, and 
in the ward or precinct thirty days, immediately preceding such elec- 
tion, and shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the 
United States, conformably to the laws of the United States on the 
subject of naturalization, shall be entitled to vote in the township or 
precinct where he may reside, if he shall have been duly registered 
according to law. (As amended March 24, 1881.) 

Sec. 3. No soldier, seaman, or marine, in the army or navy of the 
United States, or of their allies, shall be deemed to have acquired a 
residence in the State in consequence of having been stationed within 
the same; nor shall any such soldier, seaman, or marine have the right 
to vote. 

Sec. 4. No person shall be deemed to have lost his residence in the 
State, by reason of his absence, either on business of the State or of 
the United States. 

Sec. 5. [Stricken out by constitutional amendment of March 14, 
1881.] 

Sec. 6. Every person shall be disqualified from holding office, dur- 
ing the term for w^hich he may have been elected, who shall have given 
or offered a bribe, threat, or reward, to secure his election. 

Sec. 7. Every person who shall give or accept a challenge to fight a 
duel, or who shall knowingly carry to another person such challenge, 
or who shall agree to go out of the State to fight a duel, shall be in- 
eligible to any office of trust or profit. 

Sec. 8. The General Assembly shall have power to deprive of the 



(VNSTIT(TIO\ OF INDIANA 313 

right of suffrage, and to render ineligible any person convicted of an 
infamous crime. 

Sec. 9. No person holding a lucrative office or appointment under 
the United States or under this State, shall be eligible to a seat in the 
General Assembly; nor shall any person hold more than one lucrative 
office at the same time, except as in this Constitution expressly per- 
mitted; Provided, That offices in the militia, to which there is attached 
no annual salary, and the office of deputy postmaster, where the com- 
pensation does not exceed ninety dollars per annum, shall not be 
deemed lucrative: And provided, also, That counties containing less 
than one thousand polls may confer the office of Clerk, Recorder, and 
Auditor, or any two of said offices, upon the same person. 

Sec. 10. No person who may hereafter be a collector or holder of 
public moneys, shall be eligible to any office of trust or profit until he 
shall have accounted for, and paid over, according to law, all sums for 
which he may be liable. 

Sec. 11. In all cases in which it is provided that an office shall not 
be filled by the same person more than a certain number of years con- 
tinuously, an appointment pro tempore shall not be reckoned a part 
of that term. 

Sec. 12. In all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the 
peace, electors shall be free from arrest, in going to elections, during 
their attendance there, and in returning from the same. 

Sec. 13. All elections by the People shall be by ballot ; and all elections 
by the General Assembly, or by either branch thereof, shall be viva voce. 

Sec. 14. All general elections shall be held on the first Tuesday 
after the first Monday in November; but township elections may be 
held at such time as may be provided by law: Provided, That the Gen- 
eral Assembly may provide by law for the election of all judges of 
courts of general and appellate jurisdiction, by an election to be held 
for such officers only, at which time no other officer shall be voted for; 
and shall also provide for the registration of all persons entitled to 
vote. (As amended March 14, 1881.) 

ARTICLE III 

DISTRIBUTIO.v OF POWERS 

Section 1. The powers of the Government are divided into three 
separate departments: the Legislative, the Executive (including the 
Administrative), and the Judicial; And no person, charged with official 
duties under one of these departments, shall exercise any of the func- 
tions of another except as in this Constitution expressly provided. 



314 CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 

ARTICLE IV 

LEGISLATIVE 

Section 1. The Legislative authority of the State shall be vested in 
a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives. The style of every law shall be, "Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of Indiana;" and no law shall be en- 
acted, except by bill. 

Sec. 2. The Senate shall not exceed fifty, nor the House of Repre- 
sentatives one hundred members; and they shall be chosen liy the 
electors of the respective counties or districts into which the State 
may, from time to time, be divided. 

Sec. 3. Senators shall be elected for the term of four years, and 
Representatives for the term of two years, from the day next after 
their general election: Provided, however. That the Senators elect, at 
the second meeting of the General Assembly under this Constitution, 
shall be divided, by lot, into two equal classes, as nearly as may be; 
and the seats of Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira- 
tion of two years, and of those of the second class at the expiration of 
four years; so that one-half, as nearly as possible, shall be chosen 
biennially forever thereafter. And in case of increase in the number 
of Senators, they shall be so annexed by lot, to one or the otiier of the 
two classes, as to keep them as nearly equal as practicable. 

Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall, at its second session after the 
adoption of this Constitution, and every six years thereafter, cause 
an enumeration to be made of all the male inhabitants over the age of 
twenty-one years. (As amended March 14, 188L) 

Sec. 5. The number of Senators and Representatives shall, at the 
session next following each period of making such enumeration, be 
fixed by law, and apportioned among the several counties, according 
to the number of male inhabitants, above twenty-one years of age, in 
each: Provided, That the first and second elections of members of the 
General Assembly, under this Constitution, shall be according to the 
apportionment last made by the General Assembly before the adop- 
tion of this Constitution. (As amended March 14, 1881.) 

Sec. 6. A Senatorial or Representative district, where more than 
one county shall constitute a district, shall be composed of contiguous 
counties; and no county, for Senatorial apportionment, shall ever be 
divided. 

Sec. 7. No person shall be a Senator or a Representative who, at 
the time of his election, is not a citizen of the United States; nor any 
one who has not been, for two years next preceding his election, an 



CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 315 

inhabitant of this State, and for one year next preceding his election, 
an inhabitant of the county or district whence he may be chosen. 
Senators shall be at least twenty-five, and Representatives at least 
twenty-one years of age. 

Sec. 8. Senators and Representatives, in all cases except treason, 
felony, and breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest, during 
the session of the General Assembly, and in going to and returning 
from the same; and shall not be subject to any civil process, during 
the session of the General Assembly, nor during the fifteen days 
next before the commencement thereof. For any speech or debate 
in either House, a member shall not be questioned in any other 
place. 

Sec. 9. The sessions of the General Assembly shall be held bien- 
nially at the capital of the State, commencing on the Thursday next 
after the first Monday of January, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and fifty-three, and on the same day of every second year 
thereafter, unless a different day or place shall have been appointed 
by law. But if, in the opinion of the Governor, the public welfare 
shall require it, he may, at any time by proclamation, call a special 
session. 

Sec. 10. Each House, when assembled, shall choose its own officers, 
the President of the Senate excepted; judge the elections, qualifica- 
tions, and returns of its own members; determine its rules of proceed- 
ing, and sit upon its own adjournment. But neither House shall, 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, 
nor to any place other than that in which it may be sitting. 

Sec. 11. Two-thirds of each House shall constitute a quorum to do 
business; but a smaller number may meet, adjourn from day to day, 
and compel the attendance of absent members. A quorum being in 
attendance, if either House fail to effect an organization within the 
first five days thereafter, the members of the House so failing, shall be 
entitled to no compensation from the end of the said five days, until an 
organization shall have been efTected. 

Sec. 12. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and 
publish the same. The yeas and nays, on any question, shall, at the 
request of any two members, be entered, together with the names of 
the members demanding the same, on the journal: Provided, That, on 
motion to adjourn, it shall require one-tenth of the members present 
to order the yeas and nays. 

Sec. 13. The doors of each house, and of committees of the whole, 
shall be kept open, except in such cases, as, in the opinion of either 
House, may require secrecy. 



316 CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 

Sec. 14. Either House may punish its members for disorderly be- 
havior, and may, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member; 
but not a second time for the same cause. 

Sec. 15. Either House, during its session, may punish, by imprison- 
ment, any person not a member, who shall have been guilty of disre- 
spect to the House, by disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its 
presence; but such imprisonment shall not, at any time, exceed twenty- 
four hours. 

Sec. 16. Each House shall have all powers, necessary for a branch 
of the legislative department of a free and independent State. 

Sec. 17. Bills may originate in either House, but may be amended 
or rejected in the other, except that bills for raising revenue shall 
originate in the House of Representatives. 

Sec. 18. Every bill shall be read, by sections, on three several days, 
in each House; unless, in case of emergency, two-thirds of the House 
where such bill may be pending shall, by a vote of yeas and nays, deem 
it expedient to dispense with this rule; but the reading of a bill by 
sections, on its final passage, shall in no case be dispensed with; and 
the vote on the passage of every bill or joint resolution shall be taken 
by yeas and nays. 

Sec. 19. Every act shall embrace but one subject and matters prop- 
erly connected therewith; which subject shall be expressed in the title. 
But if any subject shall be embraced in an act, which shall not be 
expressed in the title, such act shall be void only as to so much thereof 
as shall not be expressed in the title. 

Sec. 20. Every act and joint resolution shall be plainly worded, 
avoiding, as far as practicable, the use of technical terms. 

Sec. 21. No act shall ever be revised or amended by mere reference 
to its title; but the act revised, or section amended, shall be set forth 
and published at full length. 

Sec. 22. The General Assembly shall not pass local or special laws 
in any of the following enumerated cases, that is to say: 

Regulating the jurisdiction and duties of Justices of the Peace and 
of 'Constables; 

For the punishment of crimes and misdemeanors; 

Regulating the practice in courts of justice; 

Providing for changing the venue in civil and criminal cases; 

Granting divorces; 

Changing the names of persons; 

For laying out, opening, and working on, highways, and for the 
election or appointment of supervisors; 

Vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys, and public squares; 



CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA " 317 

Summoning and impanneling grand and petit juries, and providing 
for their compensation; 

Regulating county and township business; 

Regulating the election of county and township officers, and their 
compensation ; 

For the assessment and collection of taxes for State, county, town- 
ship, or road purposes; 

Providing for supporting common schools, and for the preservation 
of school funds; 

In relation to fees or salaries; except that the laws may be so made 
as to grade the compensation of officers in proportion to the population 
and the necessary services required. (As amended March 14, 1881.) 

In relation to interest on money; 

Providing for opening and conducting elections of State, county, or 
township officers, and designating the places of voting; 

Providing for the sale of real estate belonging to minors, or other 
persons laboring under legal disabilities, by executors, administrators, 
guardians, or trustees. 

Sec. 23. In all the cases enumerated in the preceding section, and 
in all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, all laws 
shall be general and of uniform operation throughout the State. 

Sec. 24. Provision may be made, by general law, for bringing suit 
against the State, as to all liabilities originating after the adoption of 
this Constitution; but no special act authorizing such suit to be brought, 
or making compensation to any person claiming damages against the 
State, shall ever be passed. 

Sec. 25. A majority of all the members elected to each House, 
shall be necessary to pass every bill or joint resolution; and all bills and 
joint resolutions so passed shall be signed by the Presiding Officers of 
the respective Houses. 

Sec. 26. Any member of either House shall have the right to pro- 
test, and to have his protest, with his reasons for dissent, entered on the 
journal. 

Sec. 27. Every statute shall be a public law, unless otherwise 
declared in the statute itself. 

Sec. 28. No act shall take effect until the same shall have been pub- 
lished and circulated, in the several counties of this State by authority, 
except in case of emergency; which emergency shall be declared in the 
preamble or in the body of the law. 

Sec. 29. The members of the General Assembly shall receive for 
their services a compensation to be fixed by law; l)ut no increase of 
compensation shall take effect during the session at which such increase 



318 ' CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 

may be made. No session of the General Assembly, except the first 
under this Constitution, shall extend beyond the term of sixty-one days, 
nor any special session beyond the term of forty days. 

Sec. 30. No Senator or Representative shall, during the term for 
which he may have been elected, be eligible to any office the election of 
which is vested in the General Assembly; nor shall he be appointed to 
any civil office of profit, which shall have been created, or the emolu- 
ments of which shall have been increased, during such term; but this 
latter provision shall not be construed to apply to any office elective 
by the People. 



ARTICLE V 

EXECUTIVE 

Section 1. The executive powers of the State shall be vested in a 
Governor. He shall hold his office during four years, and shall not be 
eligible more than four years, in any period of eight years. 

Sec. 2. There shall be a Lieutenant-Governor, who shall hold his 
office during four years. 

Sec. 3. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall be elected at 
the times and places of choosing members of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 4. In voting for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor the elec- 
tors shall designate for whom they vote as Governor, and for whom as 
Lieutenant-Governor. The returns of every election for Governor and 
Lieutenant-Governor shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of 
government, directed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
who shall open and publish them in the presence of both Houses of the 
General Assembly. 

Sec. 5. The persons respectively, having the highest number of 
votes for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall be elected; but in 
case two or more persons shall have an equal and the highest number 
of votes for either office, the General Assembly shall, by joint vote, 
forthwith proceed to elect one of the said persons Governor or Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, as the case may be. 

Sec. 6. Contested elections for Governor or Lieutenant-Governor 
shall be determined by the General Assembly, in such manner as may 
be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 7. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, who shall not have been five years a citizen of the 
United States, and also a resident of the State of Indiana during the 
five years next preceding his election; nor shall any person be eligible 



COXSTfTUTION OF INDIANA 319 

to either of the said offices who sluiU not hav(; attained the age of thirty 
years. 

Sec. 8. No member of Congress, or person holding any office under 
the United States or under this State, shall fill the office of Governor 
or Lieutenant-Governor. 

Sec. 9. The official term of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor 
shall commence on the second Monday of January, in the year one 
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three; and on the same day every 
four years thereafter. 

Sec. 10. In case of the removal of the Governor from office, or of 
his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the duties of the office, 
the same shall devolve on the Lieutenant-Governor; and the General 
Assembly shall, by law, provide for the case of removal from office, 
death, resignation, or inability, both of the Governor and Lieutenant- 
Governor, declaring what officer shall then act as Governor; and such 
officer shall act accordingly until the disability be removed, or a Gov- 
ernor be elected. 

Sec. IL Whenever the Lieutenant-Governor shall act as Governor, 
or shall be unable to attend as President of the Senate, the Senate shall 
elect one of its own members as President for the occasion. 

Sec, 12. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military 
and naval forces, and may call out such forces to execute the laws or 
to suppress insurrection, or to repel invasion. 

Sec. 13. He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly 
information touching the condition of the State, and recommend such 
measures as he shall judge to be expedient. 

Sec. 14. Every bill which shall have passed the General Assembly, 
shall be presented to the Governor; if he approves, he shall sign it; 
but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which 
it shall have originated; which House shall enter the objections, at 
large, upon its journals and proceed to reconsider the bill. If, after 
such reconsideration, a majority of all the members elected to that 
House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, with the Governor's 
objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be recon- 
sidered; and, if approved by a majority of all trhe members elected to 
that House, it shall be a law. If any bill shall not be returned by the 
Governor within three days, Sunday excepted, after it shall have been 
presented to him, it shall be a law without his signature, unless the 
general adjournment shall prevent its return, in which case it shall be 
a law, unless the Governor, within five days next after such adjourn- 
ment, shall file such bill, with his objections thereto, in the office of the 
Secretary of State, who shall lay the same before the General Assembly 



'>:^U CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 

at its next session, in like manner as if it had been returned by the 
Governor. But no bill shall be presented to the Governor within 
two days next previous to the final adjournment of the General 
Assembly. 

Sec. 15. The Governor shall transact all necessary business with 
the officers of Government, and may require information in writing 
from the officers of the administrative department upon any subject 
relating to the duties of their respective offices. 

Sec. 16. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. 

Sec. 17. He shall have the power to grant reprieves, commutations, 
and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses except treason and cases 
of impeachment, subject to such regulations as may be provided by 
law. Upon conviction for treason, he shall have power to suspend the 
execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the General 
Assembly, at its next meeting; when the General Assembly shall either 
grant a pardon, commute the sentence, direct the execution of the 
sentence, or grant a further reprieve. He shall have power to remit 
fines and forfeitures, under such regulations as may be prescribed by 
law; and shall report to the General Assembly, at its next meeting, each 
case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, and also the names 
of all persons in whose favor remission of fines and forfeitures shall 
have been made, and the several amounts remitted: Provided, however, 
That the General Assembly may, by law, constitute a council, to be 
composed of officers of State, without whose advice and consent the 
Governor shall not have power to grant pardons, in any case, except 
such as may, by law, be left to his sole power. 

Sec. 18. When, during a recess of the General Assembly, a vacancy 
shall happen in any office, the appointment to which is vested in the 
General Assembly ; or when, at any time, a vacancy shall have occurred 
in any other State office, or in the office of Judge of any court; the 
Governor shall fill such vacancy by appointment, which shall expire 
when a successor shall have been elected and qualified. 

Sec. 19. He shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as may 
have occurred in the General Assembly. 

Sec. 20. Should the seat of Government become dangerous from 
disease or a common enemy, he may convene the General Assembly at 
any other place. 

Sec. 21. The Lieutenant-Governor shall, by virtue of his office, be 
President of the Senate; have a right, when in Committee of the Whole, 
to join in debate, and to vote on all subjects; and whenever the Senate 
shall be equally divided, he shall give the casting vote. 

Sec. 22. The Governor shall, at stated times, receive for his ser- 



CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 321 

vices a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished 
during the term for which he shall have been elected. 

Sec. 23. The Lieutenant-Governor, while he shall act as President 
of the Senate, shall receive for his services the same compensation as 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and any person acting 
as Governor shall receive the compensation attached to the office of 
Governor. 

Sec. 24. Neither the Governor nor Lieutenant-Governor shall be 
eligible to any other office, during the term fo'* which he shall have been 
elected. 

ARTICLE VI 

ADMINISTRATIVE 

Section 1. There shall be elected by the voters of the State, a 
Secretary, an Auditor, and a Treasurer of State, who shall, severally, 
hold their offices for two years. They shall perform such duties as 
may be enjoined by law; and no person shall be eligible to either of said 
offices more than four years in any period of six years. 

Sec. 2. There shall be elected, in each county by the voters thereof, 
at the time of holding general elections, a Clerk of the Circuit Court, 
Auditor, Recorder, Treasurer, Sheriff, Coroner, and Surveyor. The 
Clerk, Auditor, and Recorder, shall continue in office four years; and 
no person shall be eligible to the office of Clerk, Recorder, or Auditor 
more than eight years in any period of twelve years. The Treasurer, 
Sheriff, Coroner, and Surveyor, shall continue in office two years; and 
no person shall be eligible to the office of Treasurer or Sheriff more than 
four years in any period of six years. 

Sec. 3. Such other county and township officers as may be neces- 
sary shall be elected, or appointed, in such manner as may be prescribed 
by law. 

Sec. 4. No person shall be elected, or appointed, as a county officer 
who shall not be an elector of the county; nor any one who shall not 
have been an inhabitant thereof, during one year next preceding his 
appointment, if the county shall have been so long organized; but if 
the county shall not have been so long organized, then within the limits 
of the county or counties out of which the same shall have been taken. 

Sec. 5. The Governor, and the Secretary, Auditor, and Treasurer 
of State, shall, severally, reside and keep the public records, books and 
papers, in any manner relating to the respective offices, at the seat of 
government. 

Sec. 6. All county, township, and town officers, shall reside within 
their respective counties, townships, and towns; and shall keep their 



322 CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 

respective offices at such places therein, and perform such duties as may 
be directed by law. 

Sec. 7. All State officers shall, for crime, incapacity, or negligence, 
be liable to be removed from office, either by impeachment by the House 
of Representatives, to be tried by the Senate, or by a joint resolution of 
the General Assembly ; two-thirds of the members elected to each branch 
voting, in either case, therefor. 

Sec. 8. All State, county, township, and town officers may be im- 
peached or removed from office, in such manner as may be prescribed 
by law. 

Sec. 9. Vacancies in county, township, and town offices, shall be 
filled in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 10. The General Assembly may confer upon the Boards doing 
county business in the several counties, powers of a local administrative 
character. 



ARTICLE VII 

JUDICIAL 

Section 1. The Judicial power of the State shall be vested in a 
Supreme Court, in Circuit Courts and in such other courts as the 
General Assembly may establish. (As amended March 14, 1881.) 

Sec. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of not less than three, nor 
more than five Judges, a majority of whom shall form a quorum; they 
shall hold their offices for six years, if they so long behave well. 

Sec. 3. The State shall be divided into as many districts as there 
are Judges of the Supreme Court; and such districts shall be formed of 
contiguous territory, as nearly equal in population as, without dividing 
a county, the same can be made. One of said Judges shall be elected 
from each district, and reside therein; but said Judges shall be elected 
by the electors of the State at large. 

Sec. 4. The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction, co-extensive 
with the limits of the State, in appeals and writs of error, under such 
regulations and restrictions as may be prescribed by law. It shall also 
have such original jurisdiction as the General Assembly may confer. 

Sec. 5. The Supreme Court shall, upon the decision of every case, 
give a statement in writing of each question arising in the record of 
such case, and the decision of the Court thereon. 

Sec. 6. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, for the speedy 
publication of the decisions of the Supreme Court, made under this 
Constitution; but no Judge shall be allowed to report such decisions. 



CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 823 

Sec. 7. There shall be elected by the voters of the State, a Clerk of 
the Supreme Court, who shall hold his office four years, and whose 
duties shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 8. The Circuit Courts shall each consist of one Judge, and shall 
have such civil and criminal jurisdiction as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 9. The State shall, from time to time, be divided into Judicial 
Circuits; and a Judge for each Circuit shall be elected by the voters 
thereof. He shall reside within the Circuit, and shall hold his office 
for the term of six years, if he so long behave well. 

Sec. 10. The General Assembly may provide, by law, that the 
Judge of one Circuit may hold the Courts of another Circuit, in cases of 
necessity or convenience; and, in case of temporary inability of any 
Judge, from sickness or other cause, to hold the Courts in his Circuit, 
provision may be made, by law, for holding such Courts. 

Sec. 11. There shall be elected, in each Judicial Circuit, by the 
voters thereof, a Prosecuting Attorney, who shall hold his office for two 
years. 

Sec. 12. Any Judge or Prosecuting Attorney, who shall have been 
convicted of corruption or other high crime, may, on information in the 
name of the State, be removed from office by the Supreme Court, or in 
such other manner as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 13. The Judges of the Supreme Court and Circuit Courts shall, 
at stated times, receive a compensation, which shall not be diminished 
during their continuance in office. 

Sec. 14. A competent number of Justices of the Peace shall be 
elected by the voters in each township in the several counties. They 
shall continue in office four years, and their powers and duties shall be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 15. All judicial officers shall be conservators of the peace in 
their respective jurisdictions. 

Sec. 16. No person elected to any judicial office shall, during the 
term for which he shall have been elected, be eligible to any office of 
trust or profit under the State, other than a judicial office. 

Sec. 17. The General Assembly may modify or abolish the Grand 
Jury system. 

Sec. 18. All criminal prosecutions shall be carried on in the name, 
and by the authority, of the State; and the style of all process shall be 
"The State of Indiana." 

Sec. 19. Tribunals of conciliation may be established, with such 
powers and duties as shall be prescribed by law; or the powers and duties 
of the same may be conferred upon other Courts of justice; but such 
tribunals or other Courts, when sitting as such, shall have no power to 



324 CONSTirUTION OF INDIANA 

render judgment to be obligatory on the parties, unless they voluntarily 
submit their matters of difference, and agree to abide the judgment of 
such tribunal or court. 

Sec. 20. The General Assembly, at its first session after the adop- 
tion of this Constitution, shall provide for the appointment of three 
Commissioners, whose duty it shall be to revise, simplify, and abridge 
the rules, practice, pleadings, and forms, of the courts of justice. And 
they shall provide for abolishing the distinct forms of action at law, 
now in use; and that justice shall be administered in a uniform mode of 
pleading, without distinction between law and equity. And the General 
Assembly may, also, make it the duty of said Commissioners to reduce 
into a systematic code the general statute law of the State; and said 
Commissioners shall report the result of their labors to the General 
Assembly, with such recommendations and suggestions, as to abridg- 
ment and amendment, as to said Commissioners may seem necessary or 
proper. Provisions shall be made by law, for filling vacancies, regulat- 
ing the tenure of office, and the compensation of said Commissioners. 

Sec, 21. Every person of good moral character, being a voter, shall 
be entitled to admission to practice law in all courts of justice. 



ARTICLE VIII 

EDUCATION 

Section 1. Knowledge and learning, generally diffused throughout 
a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government, 
it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage, by all suitable 
means, moral, intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement; 
and to provide by law, for a general and uniform system of Common 
Schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all. 

Sec. 2. The Common School fund shall consist of the Congressional 
Township fund, and the lands belonging thereto; 

The surplus revenue fund; 

The saline fund and the lands belonging thereto; 

The Bank Tax fund, and the fund arising from the one hundred and 
fourteenth section of the charter of the State Bank of Indiana; 

The fund to be derived from the sale of County seminaries, and the 
moneys and property heretofore held for such seminaries; from the fines 
assessed for breaches of the penal laws of the State; and from all for- 
feitures which may accrue; 

All lands and other estate which shall escheat to the State, for want 
of heirs or kindred entitled to the inheritance; 



CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA ol^O 

All lands that have been or may hereafter be, granted to the State, 
where no special purpose is expressed in the grant, and the proceeds of 
the sales thereof, including the proceeds of the sales of the Swamp 
Lands, granted to the State of Indiana by the act of Congress of the 
28th of September, 1850, after deducting the expense of selecting and 
draining the same; 

Taxes on the property of corporations, that may be assessed by the 
General Assembly for Common School purposes. 

Sec. 3. The principal of the Common School fund shall remain a 
perpetual fund, which may be increased, but shall never be diminished ; 
and the income thereof shall be inviolably appropriated to the support 
of Common Schools, and to no other purpose whatever. 

Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall invest in some safe and profit- 
able manner all such portions of the Common School fund, as have not 
heretofore been intrusted to the several counties; and shall make pro- 
vision, by law, for the distribution, among the several counties, of the 
interest thereof. 

Sec. 5. If any county shall fail to demand its proportion of such 
interest for Common School purposes, the same shall be reinvested for 
the benefit of such county. 

Sec. 6. The several counties shall be held liable for the preservation 
of so much of the said fund as may be intrusted to them, and for the 
payment of the annual interest thereon. 

Sec. 7. All trust funds held by the State shall remain inviolate, and 
be faithfully and exclusively applied to the purposes for which the trust 
was created. 

Sec. 8. The General Assembly shall provide for the election, by the 
voters of the State, of a State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
who shall hold his office for two years, and whose duties and compensa- 
tion shall be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IX 

STATE INSTITUTIONS 

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide, 
by law, for the support of Institutions for the Education of the Deaf 
and Dumb, and of the Blind, and also for the treatment of the Insane. 

Sec. 2. The General Assembly shall provide Houses of Refuge for 
the correction and reformation of juvenile offenders. 

Sec. 3. The County Boards shall have power to provide farms as an 
asylum for those persons who, by reason of age, infirmity, or other mis- 
fortune, have claims upon the sympathies and aid of society. 

Moore. Ind.— 21 



326 CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 



ARTICLE X 



Section 1. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, for a 
uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation; and shall prescribe 
such regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxation of ail 
property, both real and personal, excepting such only for municipal, 
educational, literary, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes, as 
may be specially exempted by law. 

Sec. 2. All the revenues derived from the sale of any of the public 
works belonging to the State, and from the net annual income thereof, 
and any surplus that may, at any time, remain in the Treasury, derived 
from taxation for general State purposes, after the payment of the ordi- 
nary expenses of the government, and of the interest on bonds of the 
State, other than Bank bonds, shall be annually applied, under the 
direction of the General Assembly, to the payment of the principal of 
the Public Debt. 

Sec. 3. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in pur- 
suance of appropriations made by law. 

Sec. 4. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of 
the public money shall be published with the laws of each regular session 
of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 5. No law shall authorize any debt to be contracted, on behalf 
of the State, except in the following cases: To meet casual deficits in 
the revenue; to pay the interest on the State debt; to repel invasion, 
suppress insurrection, or, if hostilities be threatened, provide for the 
public defense. 

Sec. 6. No county shall subscribe for stock in any incorporated com- 
pany, unless the same be paid for at the time of such subscription ; nor 
shall any county loan its credit to any incorporated company, nor bor- 
row money for the purpose of taking stock in any such company; nor 
shall the General Assembly ever, on behalf of the State, assume the 
debts of any county, city, town, or township, nor of any corporation 
whatever. 

Sec. 7. No law or resolution shall ever be passed by the General 
Assembly of the State of Indiana that shall recognize any liability of this 
State to pay or redeem any certificate of stock issued in pursuance of an 
act entitled "An act to provide for the funded debt of the State of 
Indiana, and for the completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal to 
Evans ville," passed January 19, 1846; and an act supplemental to said 
act, passed January 29, 1847; which by the provisions of the said acts. 



CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 327 

or either of them, shall be payable exclusively from the proceeds of the 
canal lands, and the tolls and revenues of the canal in said acts men- 
tioned; and no such certificates of stock shall ever be paid by this State. 

[Note. — Section 7 is an amendment agreed to by a majority of the members 
elected to each of the two houses of the General Assembly, Regular Session of 1871, 
and referretl to the General Assembly to be chosen at the next general election. 
Agreetl to by a majority of the members elected to-each house of the General 
Assembly, Special Session of 1872. Submitted to the electors of the State by an act 
approved January 28, 1S73. Ratified by a majority of the electors, at an election 
held on the 18th day of February, 1873. Declared a part of the Constitution by 
proclamation of Thomas A. Hendricks, Governor, March 7, 1873.] 



ARTICLE XI 

CORPORATIONS 

Section 1. The General Assembly shall not have power to establish, 
or incorporate, any bank or banking company, or moneyed institution, 
for the purpose of issuing bills of credit, or bills payable to order or 
bearer, except under the conditions prescribed in this Constitution. 

Sec. 2. No bank shall be established otherwise than under a general 
banking law, except as provided in the fourth section of this article. 

Sec. 3. If the General Assembly shall enact a general banking law, 
such law shall provide for the registry and countersigning, by an officer 
of State, of all paper credit designed to be circulated as money; and 
ample collateral security, readily convertible into specie, for the redemp- 
tion of the same in gold or silver, shall be required; which collateral 
security shall be under the control of the proper officer or officers of 
State. 

Sec. 4. The General Assembly may also charter a bank with 
branches, without collateral security as required in the preceding 
section. 

Sec. 5. If the General Assembly shall establish a bank with 
branches, the branches shall be mutually responsible for each other's 
liabilities upon all paper credit issued as money. 

Sec. 6. The stockholders in every bank, or banking company, shall 
be individually responsible, to an amount, over and above their stock, 
equal to their respective shares of stock, for all debts or liabilities of 
said bank or banking company. 

Sec. 7. All bills or notes issued as money shall be, at all times, 
redeemable in gold or silver, and no law shall be passed, sanctioning, 
directly or indirectly, the suspension by any bank or banking company, 
of specie payments. 



328 CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 

Sec. 8. Holders of bank notes sliall be entitled, in case of insol- 
vency, to preference of payment over all other creditors. 

Sec. 9. No bank shall receive, directly or indirectly, a greater rate 
of interest than shall be allowed by law, to individuals loaning money. 

Sec. 10. Every bank or banking company shall be required to cease 
all banking operations, within twenty years from the time of its organi- 
zation, and promptly thereafter to close its business. 

Sec. 11. The General Assembly is not prohibited from investing 
the Trust Funds in a bank with branches, but in case of such invest- 
ment, the safety of the same shall be guaranteed by unquestionable 
security. 

Sec. 12. The State shall not be a stockholder in any bank, after the 
expiration of the present bank charter; nor shall the credit of the State 
ever be given, or loaned, in aid of any person, association, or corpora- 
tion; nor shall the State hereafter become a stockholder in any cor- 
poration or association. 

Sec. 13. Corporations, other than banking, shall not be created by 
special act, but may be formed under general laws. 

Sec. 14. Dues from corporations, other than banking, shall be 
secured by such individual liability of the corporations, or other means, 
as may be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE XII 

MILITIA 

Section 1. The militia shall consist of all able-bodied white male 
persons between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except such 
as may be exempted by the laws of the United States, or of this State; 
and shall be organized, officered, armed, equipped, and trained in such 
manner as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 2. The Governor shall appoint the Adjutant, Quartermaster, 
and Commissary Generals. 

Sec. 3. All militia officers shall be commissioned by the Governor, 
and shall hold their offices not longer than six years. 

Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall determine the method of divid- 
ing the militia into divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions and com- 
panies, and fix the rank of all staff officers. 

Sec. 5. The militia may be divided into classes of sedentary and 
active militia, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 6. No person conscientiously opposed to bearing arms, shall 
be compelled to do militia duty; but such person shall pay an equivalent 
for exemption, the amount to be prescribed by law. 



CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 329 

ARTICLE XIII 

POLITICAL AND MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS 

Section 1. No political or municipal corporation in this State shall 
ever become indebted, in any manner, or for any purpose, to any 
amount, in the aggregate exceeding two per centum on the value of 
taxable property, within such corporation, to be ascertained by the 
last assessment for State and county taxes, previous to the incurring 
of such indebtedness; and all bonds or obligations, in excess of such 
amount, given by such corporations, shall be void: Provided, That in 
time of war, foreign invasion, or other great public calamity, on petition 
of a majority of the property owners, in number and value, within 
the limits of such corporation, the public authorities, in their discretion, 
may incur obligations necessary for the public protection and defense, 
to such an amount as may be requested in such petition. (Amendment 
adopted March 14, 1881, and inserted in lieu of the original Article 13, 
which was stricken out.) 



ARTICLE XIV 

BOUNDARIES 

Section 1 . In order that the boundaries of the State may be known 
and established, it is hereby ordained and declared, that the State of 
Indiana is bounded on the east by the meridian line, which forms the 
western boundary of the State of Ohio ; on the south by the Ohio River, 
from the mouth of the Great Miami River to the mouth of the Wabash 
River; on the west by a line drawn along the middle of the Wabash 
River, from its mouth to a point where a due north line, drawn from 
the town of Vincennes, would last touch the northwestern shore of said 
Wabash River; and thence by a due north line, until the same shall 
intersect an east and west line, drawn through a point ten miles north 
of the southern extreme of Lake Michigan; on the north by said east 
and west line, until the same shall intersect the first-mentioned meridian 
line, which forms the western boundary of the State of Ohio. 

Sec. 2. The State of Indiana shall possess jurisdiction and sover- 
eignty co-extensive with the boundaries declared in the preceding 
section; and shall have concurrent jurisdiction, in civil and criminal 
cases, with the State of Kentucky on the Ohio River, and with the 
State of Illinois on the Wabash River, so far as said rivers form the 
common boundary between this State and said States respectively. 



330 CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 

ARTICLE XV 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Section 1. All officers whose appointments are not otherwise pro- 
vided for in this Constitution, shall be chosen in such manner as now 
is, or hereafter may be, prescribed by law. 

Sec. 2. When the duration of any office is not provided for by this 
Constitution, it may be declared by law; and if not so declared, such 
office shall be held during the pleasure of the authority making the 
appointment. But the General Assembly shall not create any office, 
the tenure of which shall be longer than four years. 

Sec. 3. Whenever it is provided in this Constitution, or in any law 
which may be hereafter passed, that any officer other than a member of 
the General Assembly shall hold his office for any given term, the same 
shall be construed to mean that such officer shall hold his office for such 
term, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified. 

Sec. 4. Every person elected or appointed to any office under this 
Constitution shall, before entering on the duties thereof, take an oath 
or affirmation to support the Constitution of this State, and of the 
United States, and also an oath of office. 

Sec. 5. There shall be a Seal of State, kept by the Governor for 
official purposes, which shall be called the Seal of the State of Indiana. 

Sec. 6. All commissions shall issue in the name of the State, shall 
be signed by the Governor, sealed by the State Seal, and attested by 
the Secretary of State. 

Sec. 7. No county shall be reduced to an area less than four hundred 
square miles; nor shall any county under that area be further reduced. 

Sec. 8. No lottery shall be authorized, nor shall the sale of lottery 
tickets be allowed. 

Sec. 9. The following grounds owned by the State in Indianapolis, 
namely, the State House Square, the Governor's Circle, and so much 
of outlot numbered one hundred and forty-seven as lies north of the 
arm of the Central Canal, shall not be sold or leased. 

Sec. 10. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide for 
the permanent inclosure and preservation of the Tippecanoe Battle 
Ground. 

ARTICLE XVI 

AMENDMENTS 

Section 1, Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution 
may be proposed in either branch of the General Assembly; and if the 
same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each 



CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 331 

of the two houses, such proposed amendment or amendments shall, 
with the yeas and nays thereon, be entered on their journals, and 
referred to the General Assembly to be chosen at the next general elec- 
tion; and, if in the General Assembly so next chosen, such proposed 
amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of all 
members elected to each house, then it shall be the duty of the General 
Assembly to submit such amendment or amendments to the electors 
of the State; and if a majority of said electors shall ratify the same, 
such amendment or amendments shall become a part of this Con- 
stitution. 

Sec. 2. If two or more amendments shall be submitted at the same 
time, they shall be submitted in such manner that the electors shall 
vote for or against each of such amendments separately; and while an 
amendment or amendments which shall have been agreed upon by one 
General Assembly shall be awaiting the action of a succeeding General 
Assembly, or of the electors, no additional amendment or amendments 
shall be proposed. 

Done in Convention, at Indianapolis, the tenth day of February, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one; and 
of the independence of the United States, the seventy-fifth. 

GEORGE WHITFIELD CARR, 

President and Delegate from the County of Lawrence. 
Attest: 

Wm. H. English, 

Principal Sceretary. 



ADDENDA 

The original sections stricken out or amended read as follows: 

ARTICLE II 

SUFFRAGE AND ELECTION 

Section 2. In all elections, not otherwise provided for by this 
Constitution, every white male citizen of the United States, of the age 
of twenty-one years and upwards, who shall have resided in the State 
during the six months immediately preceding such election; and every 
white male of foreign birth of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, 
who shall have resided in the United States one year, and shall have 



332 CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 

resided in this State during the six months immediately preceding such 
election, and shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of 
the United States, conformably to the laws of the United States on the 
subject of naturalization, shall be entitled to vote in the township or 
precinct where he may reside. 

Sec. 5. No negro or mulatto shall have the right of suffrage. 

Sec. 14. All general elections shall be held on the second Tuesday 
in October. 

ARTICLE IV 

LEGISLATIVE 

Section 4. The General Assembly shall, at its second session after 
the adoption of this Constitution and every six years thereafter, cause 
an enumeration to be made of all the white male inhabitants over the 
age of twenty-one years. 

Sec. 5. The number of Senators and Representatives shall, at the 
session next following each period of making such enumeration, be fixed 
by law and apportioned among the several counties, according to the 
number of white male inhabitants, above twenty-one years of age, in 
each: Provided, That the first and second elections of members of the 
General Assembly, under this Constitution, shall be according to the 
apportionment last made by the General Assembly, before the adoption 
of this Constitution. 

Sec. 22. In relation to fees or salaries. 

ARTICLE VII 

JUDICIAL 

Section 1. The judicial power of the State shall be vested in a 
Supreme Court, in Circuit Courts, and in such inferior courts as the 
General Assembly may establish. 

ARTICLE XIII 

NEGROES AND MULATTOES 

Section I. No negro or mulatto shall come into, or settle in, the 
State, after the adoption of this Constitution. 

Sec. 2. All contracts made with any negro or mulatto coming into 
the State, contrary to the provisions of the foregoing section, shall be 
void; and any persoii who sliall employ sucH negro or mulatto, or 



CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA 333 

otherwise encourage him to remain in the State, shall be fined in any 
sum not less than ten dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars. 

Sec. 3. All fines which may be collected for a violation of the pro- 
visions of this article, or of any law which may hereafter be passed for 
the purpose of carrying the same into execution, shall be set apart and 
appropriated for the colonization of such negroes and mulattoes, and 
their descendants as may be in the State at the adoption of this Con- 
stitution, and may be willing to emigrate. 

Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall pass laws to carry out the 
provisions of this article. 



INDEX 



Aboriginal inhabitants, 20 
Ade, George, 228 
Administrative department, 241 
Agriculture, 222 
Amendment, 14th, 183 
Amendment, 15th, 184 
American Knights, 163 
Anti-cigarette law, 208 
Anti-saloon League, 216 
Appellate court, 243 
Apportionment laws, 200 
Arthur, Chester A., 191 
Assembly, General, 238 
Auditor, 242 
Australian ballot, 196 

Baker, Conrad P., 182 

Baldwin, James, 227 

Bank, State, 132 

Banking, Old method of, 139 

Bartholomew, Joseph, 108 

Baxter law, 186 

Beecher, Henry Ward, 260 

Benevolent Institutions, 246 

Beveridge, Albert J., 228 

Bigger, Samuel, 134 

Bingham, J. J., 168 

Blaine, James G., 192 

Blair, F. P., 182 

Blind, School for, 260 

Boards and Commissions, 245 

Boat load of knowledge, 279 

Bolton, Sarah T., 227 

Bonds, State, 204 

Boon, Ratliff, 119 

Boundaries, 11 

Bounty system, 170 

Boys' schools, 247 

Bright, Jesse D., 168 

Brookville, Distinguished talent 

from, 201 
Brown, George, 180 
Brown, John, 144 



Bryan, William Jennings, 218 
Buchanan, James, 147 
Buena Vista, Battle of, 137 
Building stones, 290 
Burnside, Ambrose E,, 174 
Butler, Amos W., 228 

Calkins, William H., 192 

Canal, Wabash and Erie, 127 

Canby, Edward, 178, 179 

Carr, Bruce, 210 

Caves, 290 

Census, 78, 80, 303, 306 

Census of French, 39 

Centennial anniversary, 18 

Chase, Ira J., 195 

Chipkawkay, 33 

Chipman, M. A., 204 

Cincinnati, 157 

Circuit courts, 244 

Civics, 229 

Clark, George Rogers, 38, 49, 
55 

Clark's Grant, 63 

Clarke, WiUiam F., 227 

Clerk of courts, 245 

Cleveland, Grover, 192, 195, 1C8 

Climate, 16 

Coal, 290 

Codification commission, 203 

Colfax, Schuyler, 182 

Collins, Napoleon, 179 

Commissioners, School book, 196 

Compact, Articles of, 72 

Compromise, Missouri, 143 

Compulsory education, 255 

Consolidated schools, 255 

Conspiracy trials, 167 

Constitution, of Indiana, 309 

Amendments to, 189 
framed and adopted, 

108 
of 1816, 79, 325 



335 



336 



INDEX 



Constitutional Elm, 80 
Correctional Institutions, 246 
Corwin, Thomas, 136 
Corydon, 78, 80 
Cox, Millard, 227 
Criminal courts, 244 

Daily, A. C, 210 

Dale, David, 275 

Davis, Henry G., 207 

Davis, Jeff C, 178 

Deaf, School for, 260 

Debt, State, 203 

Development, Modern, 182 

Dillon, John B., 66, 227 

Dodd, Harrison H., 167 

Drainage system, 13 

Dubuisson, Sieur, 34, 42 

Duke, Basil, 160 

Dunn, Jacob P., 37, 85, 228, 300 

Dunning, Paris C, 135 

Durbin, Winfieid T., 203 

Early Taxation, 82 
Education, 224 

Education, State Board of, 181 
Educational commission, 213, 255 
Educational development, 249 
Educational Institutions, 246 
Educational system, 250 
Eggleston, Edward, 227 
Eggleston, George Gary, 227 
Election, First, 69 
Enabhng Act, 233 
English, W. H., 191, 227 
Epileptics, Village for, 247 
Executive department, 240 
Exposition, Louisiana Purchase, 

205 
Extinguishing Indian titles, 109, 

122 

Fairbanks, Charles W., 207 

Fee and salary law, 184 

Fee system, 248 

Feeble Minded Youth, School for, 

247 
Fifteenth Amendment, 184 
Finly, John, 227, 299 
Floods, 192 
Fort Ancient, 23 
Chartres, 35 



Fort Crevecoeur, 30 

Defiance, 97 

Duquesne, 47 

Frontenac, 31 

Gage, 35 

Harrison, 103 

Knox, 67 

Miami, 31 

Miamis, 33 
captured, 42 

Ouiatenon, 33 

Patrick Henry, 64 

Pitt, 48 

Recovery, 94 

Sackville, 61 

St. Louis, 31 

St.Vincent, 33 

Washington, 93 

Wayne, 33, 97, 107, 229 
Foster, John W., 218 
Foulke, William Dudley, 228 
Fredericksburg, 175 
Fremont, John C, 144 
French and Indian War, 45 
Fugitive slave law, 143 
Fugitive slaves, 89 

Gambling resorts, 216 

Garfield, James A., 191 

Gas, Natural, 198, 289 

Geography, 11 

Geological formations, 13 

Geologist, State, 196 

Gibault, Father, 57, 65 

Gibson, John, 76 

Girls' School, 247 

Glacial epoch, 291 

Golden Circle, Knights of, 158 

Gould, B. A., 153 

Government, Departments of, 238 

Governor, 240 

Gowdy, John K., 34 

Grant, Ulysses S., 182, 186 

Gray, Isaac P., 189, 192 

Greeley, Horace, 186 

Greenville, Treaty of, 98 

Gresham, Walter Q., 177, 218 

Gwin, William, 180 

Hackleman, Pleasant A., 177 
Halfway house, 281 
Hammond, Abram A., 141 



INDEX 



83' 



Hamtrack, John F., 97 

Hancock, Winfield, S., 171 

Hanly, J. Frank, 207, 209, 214, 
216, 255, 263 

Hardin, John, 92 

Harmar, Joseph, 92 

Harmonic, 265 

Harper's Ferry, Raid on, 144 

Harrison, Benjamin, 177, 194, 
198, 205 

Harrison, Wilham Henry, 42, 75, 
134 

Hay, John, 228 

Hayes, Rutherford B., 187 

Helm, Leonard, 57 

Hemenway, James A., 217 

Henderson, J. O., 210 

Hendricks, Thomas A., 182, 185, 
187, 192, 194 

Hendricks, Wilham, 123 

Hines, Thomas H., 158 

Home, Soldiers', 172, 247 

Hoosierism to Literary Suprem- 
acy, 226 

Hoosier's Nest, 296 

Hospitals for the Insane, 247 

House of Representatives, 238 

Howard, T. E., 204 

Hovey, Alvin P., 177, 195 

Hubbard, Kin, 228 

Humane Laws and Administra- 
tion, 224 

Illinois, County of, 70 
Improvements, Internal, 124, 127 
Independence, War for, 54 
Indian Captivity, stories of, 110 
Indian wars, 90 
Indiana, Constitution of, 309 

geology of, 289 
Indiana in National Politics, 218, 

305 
Indiana legion, 158 
Indiana Territory, 75 
Indiana, the hub of the Union, 297 
Indianapolis, chosen capital, 121 
Indians, 25 
Indians, Monument to, 298 

Jeflferson, Thomas, 48, 71 
Jennings, Jonathan, 88, 119 
Johnson, Andrew, 183 
Johnson, Robert Underwood, 227 



Johnston, Annie Fellows, 228 
Joliet, Louis, 28 
Jordan, Lewis, 159 
Joutel, Henri, 29 
Judicial Department, 243 
Justices of the peace, 245 
Juvenile Courts, 245 

Kansas-Nebraska Act, 143 
Kaskaskia taken, 56 
Kekionga, 33 

Kern, John W., 203, 207, 218 
Kimball, Nathan, 178 
Know Nothing party, 144 
Krout, Caroline, 227 

La Balme's Raid, 52 

Lafayette, visit of, 123 

Lakes, 13 

Landis, Frederick, 228 

Lane, Daniel G., 82 

Lane, Henry S., 145 

La Salle, 27, 229 

Law, John, 227 

Lawton, Henry W., 203 

Legislative department, 238 

Legislature, First, 120 

Levering, Julia Henderson, 106, 

228 
Lewis, John W., 213 
Lieutenant governor, 193, 241 
Lilly, WilUam H., 82 
Lincoln, Abraham, 146, 180 
Lincoln, Benjamin, 96 
Lincoln, Nancy Hanks, 297 
Lincoln Tree, 298 
Lockwood, George B., 228, 268, 

279, 288 
Logan, John A., 192 
Loughrey, Archibald, 53 
Louisiana Territory, 31, 48 
Lynch law, 183, 201 

McClellan, George B., 180 
McCullough, Hugh, 218 
McCutcheon, George Barr, 228 
Maclure, William, 279, 287 
Macluria, 282 
McDonald, Joseph E., 180 
McKinley, Wilham, 200 
Maine, The, 202 
Major, Charles, 228 
Manson, Mahlon D., 192, 210 



338 



INDEX 



Manufacturing, 224 

Margane, Francis (the 2nd Vin- 

cennes), 35 
Marshall, Thomas R., 214, 216, 

220, 264 
Matthews, Claude, 198 
Merrill, Catherine, 149 
Metropolitan police boards, 191, 

220 
Mexican war, 135 
Michigan boundary dispwte, 127 
Michigan Road, 124 
Miller, C. H. (Joaquin), 227 
Miller, Elizabeth, 228 
Miller, W. H. H, 218 
Milroy, Robert H., 178 
Minimum wage and qualifications 

law, 213 
Mississinewa, Battle of, 108 
Missouri Compromise, 143 
Monroe, James, 71 
Montgomery, D. H., 131 
Moore, B. F., 213 
Moore, Edward E., 213 
Morgan's raid, 158 
Morton, Oliver P., 141, 145, 148, 

161, 177, 180, 182, 190 
Mound Builders, 20 
Mount, James A., 200 
Municipal Courts, 245 
Murfordsville, Battle of, 156 

National Road, 234 
Nesbit, Wilbur, 228 
New Harmony, 265 
New Lanark, 274 
New, Robert A., 82 
Nicholas's Conspiracy, 42 
Nicholson, Meredith, 228 
Noble, Noah, 125 
Normal School, 260 

Occupations, 16 

Officers, Administrative, 241 

Oflncers, County, 242 

Officers, State, 242 

Officers, Township, 242 

Option Elections, 221 

Option law, 216 

Ordinance of 1787, 71, 85, 231 

Orth, Godlove S., 187 



Ouiatenon, 33, 229 

Owen, David Dale, 280 

Owen, Richard, 280 

Owen, Robert, 265, 274 

Owen, Robert Dale, 152, 227, 271, 

280 
Owen, William, 280 
Owen philosophy, 270 

Palo Alto, Battle of, 137 
Panic, of 1821, 122 

of 1837, 132 

of 1873, 185 

of 1907, 219 
Paris, Treaty of, 48 
Parker, Alton B., 207 
Parker, Benjamin S., 227 
Parry, David M., 228 
Pemsquatawah, 98 
Perryville, Battle of, 157 
Petroleum, 289 
Phillips, David Graham, 228 
Piankashaw, 33 
Pickawillany, 43 
Pickering,Timothy, 96 
Pigeon Roast Massacre, 107 
Pioneer, typical, 115 
Pogue's Run, Battle of, 170 
Political Divisions, 11 
Pontiac's conspiracy, 50 
Population, 17, 222 

Table of, 303 
Table of, 306 
Porter, Albert H., 191 
Posey, Thomas, 78 
Presidential elections, 303 
Presidents, Table of, 307 
Prison, State, 247 
Probate courts, 244 
Probation officers, 245 
Prophets war, 98 
Public Depository law, 212 
Public Instruction, Superintendent 

of, 181 
Purdue, John, 258 
Purdue University, 181, 258 

Railroad, First, 128 
Railroads, 222 
Ralston, Alexander, 121 
Randolph, Beverly, 96 
Rapp, Frederick, 268 



INDEX 



339 



Rapp, George, 265 
Rappite Community, 265 
Ray, James Brown, 123 
Reformatory, State, 247 
Remonstrance law, 213, 216, 221 
Reporter of Supreme and Apel- 
late Courts, 245 
Representatives, House of, 238 
Republican party, 144 
Resaca de la Palma, Battle of, 137 
Resources, 224 
Reynolds, Joseph J., 178 
Rice, James H., 210 
Richmond, battle of, 156 
Ridpath, John Clark, 228 
Riley, James Whitcomb, 227 
Ritchie, Will S., 213 
Rivers, 13 
Rivet, M., 41, 249 
Robertson, Robert S., 113 
Robertson, R. S., 193 
Rogers, Robert, 51 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 207 
Russell, William, 108 

St. Ange, Louis, 37 

St. Clair, Arthur, 77, 92 

St. Gabriel's rock, 269 

Sanitary commission, 153 

Say, Thomas, 280 

Schmidt, Bruno, 196 

School fund, 253 

School lands, 124 

School legislation, 124, 140, 180 

Schools, 224, 249 

Consolidated, 255 
Scrip, State, 132 
Seal, State, 122 
Secession, 146 
Secretary of State, 242 
Seminaries, County, 253 
Senate, 238 
Senators, list of, 302 
Settlement, 17 
Settlers, Early, 115 
Seymour, Horace, 182 
Seymour, Lynch law at, 183 
Sheriff's liability law, 201 
Sherman, James S., 218 
Sherrick, David E., 210 
Shively, B. F., 217 
Simpson, Matthew, 260 



Slack, L. Ert, 213 

Slavery, 85, 142 

Slaves, Fugitive, 120 

SHmp, Thomas D., 213 i 

Slocum, Frances, 110 

Smith, A. G., 193 

Smith, Caleb B., 218 

Smith, E. Kirby, 156 

Smith, OHver H., 227 

Smith, WilUam H., 41, 150, 227 

Socialistic experiments, 265 

Societies, Secret, 163, 170 

Soils, 11 

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, 
173, 196 

Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' 
Home, 172, 247 

Soldiers, Tax for, 180 

Sons of Liberty, 163 

Spanish-American war, 202 

State Institutions, 246 

State officers, 241 

Statehood, Progress under, 119 

Statehouse, 79, 125, 230 

State's wards, care of, 224 

Statistics, Bureau of, 196 

Storms, Daniel E., 210 

Strike, Pullman car, 200 

Strike, Railroad, 190 

Sumter, Fort, 149 

Superintendent, County, 181 

Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, 181 

Superior Courts, 244 

Supreme Court, 243 

Surplus Revenue Fund, 130 

Taft, Wilham H., 218 

Tarkington, Booth, 228 

Taylor, Zacharv, 136 

Tecumseh, 98, 108 

Telegraphs, 222 

Telephones, 222 

Temperance, 213 

agitation, 191 
legislation, 140, 186 

Texas, Admission of, 136 

Textbook law, 196, 254 

Thanksgiving Day, 133 

Thirteen original counties, 83 

Thompson, Maurice, 228 

Thompson, Richard W., 218 



340 



INDEX 



Tilden, Samuel J., 187 
Tippecanoe, Battle of, 103 
Tipton, John, 108 
Todd, John, 66, 70 
Topography, 11 
Township schools, 250 
Treasonable Secret Societies, 163 
Treasurer, State, 242 
Treaty of Paris, 48 
Tuberculosis Hospital, 247 
Tyner, James N., 218 

Underground railroads, 89 
University, State, 257 
Usher, John P., 218 

Vigo, Francis, 58, 65 
Vincennes, 33, 40, 55, 229 
Vincennes, Sieur de, 35 
Vincennes, Sieur de (the 2d), 36 
Vincennes University claim, 214, 

262 
Volney, C. F., 40 



Wabash Land Company, 109 
Wallace, David, 133 
Wallace, Lew, 155, 157, 175, 227 
Ward, John R., 210 
Warren, Josiah, 228 
Washington, George, 47, 173 
Watson, James E., 216 
Wayne, Anthony, 95 
Wayne, Fort, 33, 97, 107, 229 
Webb, Edgar, 213 
Webster, Daniel, 71 
Wheeler, William A., 187 
Whitcomb, James, 135 
"Wildcat" money, 132 
Willard, Ashbel P., 141 
Williams, James D., 187 
W^omen's Prison, 247 
Woollen, William Watson, 228 
Woollen, William Wesley, 228 
Wright, Frances, 280 
Wright, Joseph A., 138 

Zoar, 266 



OCT 8 \m 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



^^ Q 



